Keeper of the Lost Cities: Lodestar
by The Glittery Ninja Espada
Summary: With Keefe out the picture and new enemies closing in, Sophie must learn to hone her abilities and train with the Black Swan to take down the Neverseen. Along with her friends and family, Sophie learns that while some relationships are destined to live forever, some bonds are meant to be broken. Will forever remained unfinished, but the epilogue is up. Still is discontinued.
1. Disclaimer

So . . . um, hi, guys.

I've been getting a few reviews on the topic, and I just wanted to clarify.

 _I did not copy from Shannon Messenger_. Like, seriously.

This is all my own writing and my very own twisted brain thought up pretty much all of this **_fan_** fiction.

Shannon Messenger is an _amazing_ author, and she literally owns all the characters and the original Keeper of the Lost Cities series plot and original words found in the story.

The only words I "made up" are words found in the glossary, that's all.

Seriously, you guys'll think this is shit when the actual book comes out (God, I am **so** excited!), because Shannon Messenger's writing is a _we_ -some.

Um, so yeah.

Just wanted to clarify, because all the people asking happen to be guests and I can't answer their questions directly (also, as to why I didn't put this in an Author's Note of a previous chapter is because those all erased from my Document Manager a _long_ time ago).


	2. Prologue

**Okay, I loved the ending of Neverseen, and am SUPER impatient for the next book to come out, so I decided to try my hand at writing Keeper of the Lost Cities fanfiction. _THIS STORY TAKES PLACE DIRECTLY AFTER THE EVENTS OF NEVERSEEN. IF YOU HATE SPOILERS AND HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK AND CHOSE TO IGNORE THIS AND READ THIS STORY ANYWAYS AND THEN DECIDE TO PUMMEL ME WITH REVIEWS ABOUT GIVING AWAY SPOILERS, THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM._ Anyways, please enjoy and review! Have a nice day. ;)**

 **Also: If you're reading this, you probably know, THE GLITTER NINJA DOES NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES. Wanna know why? 'Cause Shannon Messenger does.**

* * *

Sophie breathed heavily, her lungs burning with the smoke of the flickering Endoflames. The smoke wasn't supposed to hurt this much, incinerating her lungs from the inside out.

It was perfectly safe, he had told her. She would be fine.

Obviously he hadn't calculated the risk that the flames would go berserk and soon she would be ensconced in the heat.

 _Of course he wouldn't_ , Sophie thought sadly, wishing he hadn't left her. _It's Fitz._

Her mental connection with the dark-haired boy was ragged as her desperate breaths, and he hadn't answered her transmissions ever since she stepped into the blaze.

Sophie twisted her fingers worriedly, trying to keep her mental barrier strong enough to protect her life and the life besides her. She fingered her nexus.

 _He_ was the one who told her not to trust Keefe, the one who feared for her life.

 _He_ was the one who what brought her to the Lost Cities.

 _He_ was the one who had protected her in her first few days as an elf and every other day after.

And _he_ was the one who had left her alone in the engulfing flames with nothing but the unconscious body of an undeniably familiar blond-haired boy.

She grabbed the boy's wrist as her lifeline and shivered, staring at his various burns, expecting herself to have the same.

Maybe Keefe had been right.

 _No one is who they seem._


	3. I Have To Do This

**HE PAUSED TO** smile at Granite—Tiergan before turning back to Sophie. "As of this morning, Prentice is awake."

Sophie felt her heart crash to her feet like a stone. Prentice was awake?

"How? Why? When?" She felt the questions roll off her tongue before she could comprehend what she was saying.

Granite—Tiergan—what was she supposed to call him again? She opted for Tiergan, as she felt much more comfortable talking to her easygoing former Telepathy mentor than a member of the Black Swan's Collective.

Tiergan laughed, saying, "Just a few minutes ago, actually. Physic was able to treat him with some soothing medicines and elixirs and before we knew it, he was mumbling incoherently and now is fully awake."

Suddenly, his beaming face turned stony as he glared at Sophie. She shrunk back, knowing exactly what he was going to say before the words even exited his lips. "And before you ask Sophie—if you see him, Prentice's thoughts are still a very shadowy place. Do not even think of entering his mind." Tiergan exchanged a look with Mr. Forkle (Magnate Leto?). "Yet."

Sophie felt her spirits soar.

Yet.

Yet could mean so many things. Yet until the Black Swan finally gave her permission to heal Prentice's mind, and bring him back to the wonderful world of the living again.

Her hope fizzled into confusion. Why hadn't they given her permission yet? She could have Prentice's mind healed within the hour, and he could be working with the Black Swan and live as one of their Keeper once again. Everything would be back to normal.

That was when she realized perhaps for the Black Swan, yes, everything would be normal.

But would it be normal for Prentice?

He would wake up from his sleep in broken madness only to realize that his real life wasn't much better. His wife, Cyrah had faded away in a leaping accident a few years back, and his only son, Wylie had grown up under Tiergan's tutelage and was already in the Elite levels. She couldn't imagine what life would be like for him.

That got her thinking, what were the Black Swan planning to do now that Prentice was 'awake'? Tiergan had already said that if she was able to meet him, she wasn't allowed to open her mind to his and heal him, so what exactly were their expectations?

"What exactly are you going to do with him?" Sophie asked, hoping that they had something in mind.

Magnate Leto—she decided to call him by his real name—and Tiergan exchanged uncomfortable looks. "We're not exactly sure," Magnate Leto started, running his fingers stiffly through his over-gelled hair. "Physic has taken to caring for him, and we have one of our most skilled Telepaths—Sorren, going through his mind to see if there's anything left that can be healed."

"Wait—" Sophie paused. Something was definitely up. "Why are you sending—what was his name again? Sorren, instead of me? If I was the one to go through his mind, I could've assessed the damage and fixed the break right there."

Tiergan put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We know you could, Sophie, but that is exactly the reason we need you to stay right here, away from the chaos of Prentice's mind."

"Yes, Miss Foster," Magnate Leto agreed. "You are far too valuable to possibly give up your life to search through Prentice's memories before we give you the permission to heal him. And—" He paused when he saw her flashing a grumpy glare at him. " _We_ will be the ones to give you permission to perform the healing. No sooner and no later."

"But I've been in his mind before," Sophie argued. "And besides, is it really fair to risk one of your own members' lives to do something I can do just as easily?"

"You _are_ one of our members, Sophie," Magnate Leo said firmly, fiddling with the gaudy tassels at the end of his cape. "And whether or not you realize it, we are not pushing you aside and letting our elder, experienced members have all the fun." His uranium blue eyes bore into hers. "We need you. Especially to heal Prentice's mind."

"Besides," Tiergan interrupted. "You'll get to at least see Prentice soon, once after Wylie's had a chance to spend some time to spend with him."

Sophie knew that no matter how hard she argued, her efforts would be futile. "Fine," she grumbled, rolling her eyes.

Tiergan cracked a smile. "I sometimes forget how stubborn you are."

Sophie had to laugh at that, and added, "Not as stubborn as Silveny."

Suddenly, she wished she had kept her mouth shut. The room turned somber, and even the sparkly new flowers woven into the carpeting couldn't cheer her up. She could only imagine what the glittery alicorn and Greyfell were up to now. Probably enjoying sightseeing all over the world before their foal was born, or maybe gorging themselves on swizzlespice. It was hard to predict what the willful alicorn would do next.

"How is she, by the way?" Magnate Leto asked sorrowfully.

Sophie shook her head. "She hasn't transmitted at all since she left." She had admitted it to herself more times that she liked, but she couldn't help but miss the crazy winged horse's exuberant transmissions.

Tiergan cleared his throat. "Keep in mind, that Silveny and Greyfell haven't even been gone for a full day. I'm sure they're still looking for a place to stay." He sighed and stared out one of the large windows in Sophie's room. "Still, it's such a shame to lose such a magnificent creature."

Her eyes burned with tears, but she managed to keep her eyes dry as she said quietly, "It was for her own good. Now the Neverseen won't know where she is and she and Greyfell will have an easier time hiding their baby and keeping it safe."

She swallowed a bitter taste in her mouth as soon as she said 'Neverseen'. Now not only would she be fighting against her sworn enemies, Brant, Fintan and quite possibly Ruy, she'd be fighting against Alvar, Fitz and Biana's older brother, whom she once considered a fellow ally and more importantly . . . Keefe.

Sophie's heart twisted as she recited the words he had told her over and over again in her head.

 _Please don't hate me_.

Those words had echoed in her head throughout her entire conversation with Magnate Leto and Tiergan, and she decided to keep true to her word.

She fiddled with the necklace Keefe had given her and peered more closely at the letters etched in the Panakes blossom he had painted for her.

 _Trust me_.

How could she, after all he had done to her? At the same time, how could she not?

If Tiergan and Magnate Leto still trusted Keefe, then Sophie would too.

She knew that that wasn't the real Keefe hidden underneath the Neverseen cloak. It was a scared, angry boy who thought someone had already written his destiny out for him, and thought that it was his future to turn against everyone he cared about and cared about him.

If only she could make him understand.

"Miss Foster, please don't fret about the Sencen boy. I am willing to believe that he will come around, and even though his decisions may have been rash, he is still truly good at heart," Magnate Leto comforted, while Tiergan cast a surprised look his way.

Sophie, meanwhile, flashed him an angry glare as she demanded, "Were you reading my mind again? I thought we agreed that you wouldn't do that anymore."

Magnate Leto backed away, with his hands up, as if in surrender, and smiled. "No, but your facial expressions are very telling."

"Oh."

Sophie didn't know what to say to that. She wanted to feel angry, to hit someone, to throw something. She wanted to stay mad, to get all her anger and frustration and sadness towards Keefe out.

She felt the anger churn inside her, sprinkled with blots of sadness, well up inside her, forming into a giant ball of pure, raw emotion. Her vision turned blood red, and it was then she realized she needed to rid herself of the rage. But before she could let it all out, a comforting hand touched her shoulder, and her vision cleared.

"It's all right, Sophie," Tiergan whispered. "Calm down."

She breathed heavily, and could hardly believe what she had been going to do. Instead of rage, embarrassment clouded her mind, and she could feel her cheeks becoming a very unbecoming shade of red.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I—I don't know what came over me."

Tiergan and Magnate Leto exchanged looks that Sophie was having trouble deciphering. Worry? Amusement? Perhaps pity? All three? It was hard to tell.

"We understand you might need help coping with the loss of one of your closest friends," Magnate Leto began, eyeing Sophie.

"Which is why it is essential that you have the rest of your friends around to support you," Tiergan finished, nodding brightly, although she could see the films of sadness spreading over his eyes.

"Speaking of," Magnate Leto said uncomfortably, staring blankly at Sophie's empty walls. "The Vacker and Dizznee family need to be informed of this new . . . situation. I have no doubt that it will affect them all deeply."

Sophie couldn't even imagine. The Vackers were already dealing with the betrayal of their eldest son, and just awhile back had to deal with Alden's mind being broken, and now they would have to learn that one of their family's closest friends, whom they had treated like a son, had officially changed sides and was no longer with them. And the Vackers were supposed to have the easy life.

And Dex? She didn't want to think about how he'd react. It took him awhile to trust people since many elves treated him as lesser since his parents were a 'bad match', and even though he had come to trust Keefe, he didn't like him too much either.

Although it broke her heart, Sophie knew what she needed to do. "I'll go talk to them," she offered.

Magnate Leto's eyes widened, but Tiergan looked at her knowingly.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Magnate Leto asked, confused.

She took a deep breath. No, she wasn't sure, but she knew that this was something she had to do. "I'll be fine," she murmured unconvincingly.

"I understand why you feel like you need to do this, Sophie, but do think about this. Not only will it be hard for them, but it will be hard for you as well," Tiergan advised, sadness filling his voice.

"Yes," Sophie said, swallowing a small sob. "It has to be me." She flopped face down on her bed, burrowing her head in the silken sheets, wishing the swan feather mattress would swallow her whole.

"All right," Magnate Leto sighed, after a time of silence, in which Sophie had no doubt that the two Black Swan members were having a secret telepathic conversation. "But if you really feel like you have to go, Miss Foster, you will head to Everglen tomorrow. We will ensure that the Dizznees are there as well."

Sophie breathed a sigh of relief, even after a wave of worry hit her.

She would have wanted it no other way.


	4. Trust, But Be Wary

**SOPHIE GLANCED THROUGH** her closet, unsure of what to wear. She was planning to go to Everglen to break the news to the Vackers and Dizznees on Keefe's betrayal, and she decided to make an effort on how she looked, if not, just to cheer herself up.

"You shouldn't be wearing that," Vertina scowled as Sophie stepped in front of the spectral mirror, clad in a semi-casual sea-blue dress, embroidered with silver thread and dusted with glitter and black leggings. "It doesn't compliment your eyes." She gave Sophie a disdainful once-over. "Or any other part of you."

"Just be quiet," Sophie grumbled as she reached for her hairbrush and began to rake it through her hair, wanting to look at least a little bit presentable.

Vertina stared closely at Sophie, her eyes scrunching up. "Did something bad happen again?"

Sophie could barely force herself to nod as the memories came flooding back. She closed her eyes tightly as she whispered, "Keefe went to join the Neverseen."

Vertina's eyebrows shot all the way up her forehead. "The blond boy who comes over a lot? Him?" She shook her head in disbelief. "It can't be."

"It can and he did," Sophie said as she fingered the necklace he'd given her, unsure if she should keep it on.

Vertina shook her head once more. "No—no, it can't be. I've seen him—" When Sophie looked up at her, confused, Vertina let out a little shriek and disappeared with a shrill "Nevermind!"

Vertina had seen Keefe? Where? When? More importantly, how? She gave the mirror a few firm _thwaps_ , and when the spectral figure did not return, she gave up. Sophie knew better than to call on Vertina when she didn't want to talk. But still, what did Vertina know about Keefe? It must have been important, she mused as she spread a minuscule amount of lip gloss on her lips, and as per Vertina's request, a sheer dusting of glimmerdust under her eyes.

Her mind was still spouting off theories as she absentmindedly fiddled with Keefe's necklace as she walked down Havenfield's grand staircase, which is how she ended up plowing into Grady, and let loose the enormous stack of papers he'd been holding.

"Sorry—I'm so sorry!" She cried as she bent down to help him recollect his papers.

Grady merely gave an easygoing laugh. "No harm done," he said as he too, started to retrieve the leaflets that had fallen. She handed the small stack she had picked up and handed it to him, which he added to his own picked-up stack. Grady looked down on her outfit sadly. "Are you planning to go to Everglen now?" He asked, remorse and bitterness echoing through his voice.

She nodded as she showed him her Imparter. "Magnate Leto left me a message that he gathered both the Dizznees and the Vackers at Everglen a few minutes ago. They're confused and worried, since he hasn't told them anything yet, and I'm supposed to go over there right now and explain it to them."

Grady sighed as he ran his fingers through his blond hair, his face twisting into an emotion that Sophie believed even an Empath would have a hard time reading. "Are you sure you don't want Edaline and I to come with you?"

Sophie reached out to give his hand a comforting squeeze, although she felt shakier a bowl of gelatin. She needed to stay strong, and she knew if she dragged Grady and Edaline along with her, she would feel the compulsion to rely on them to explain it to everyone. No, she needed to hold her head up high and fix this mess.

"I'll be fine," she lied, her heart pounding.

Grady clenched her hand even harder and squeezed the papers he was holding, his face darkening considerably. "They shouldn't have to go through this, not with all they've been through already."

"I know," Sophie said comfortingly. It wasn't fair. But could she really blame Keefe for doing what he had done? No, she had to trust him, just like how he had trusted her. "But we have to get through this."

Grady sighed sadly and his gaze turned resentful when his eyes caught her necklace. "You're still wearing that?"

Sophie let go of his hand to squeeze one of the beads Keefe had painted. She knew she probably shouldn't, but wearing it helped her remember all the kind things Keefe had done for her, and helped her focus on trying to understand him, rather than hate him.

"I think I have to," Sophie sighed, letting her hands drop to her sides. She closed her eyes as she whispered, "It helps."

Grady shook his head. "I still don't think you should be wearing it, Sophie," he said, but he made no further rebuttals. "Do you want Sandor to come with you?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I don't think he needs to," she said, even though she had missed the giant gray goblin more than she had ever thought she would. "You guys said I didn't need a bodyguard if I was going to Everglen."

"Times have changed, Miss Foster. I will be accompanying you everywhere, including Everglen from now on," a grumbly voice called from behind her. She turned around to see Sandor, in all his gobliny glory standing behind, with a row of throwing stars threaded on a strap on his arms. "Now that Mr. Sencen knows how to use throwing stars, I need to be more than prepared."

Sophie's heart sunk. "Keefe wouldn't do anything like that," she insisted, hoping it was true.

"You never know, Sophie," Grady said, at the same time when Sandor blurted, "We must be prepared."

She sighed, knowing that there was no way out of this. Sandor would follow her to Everglen whether she liked it or not.

"Well, I guess we'd better be going," Sophie muttered. "The sooner we go, the sooner we'll get this over with."

"Edaline tells me to send you her love," Grady called as she headed over to the Leapmaster 500. "She's currently at Protection Dissection, looking for new ways to secure Havenfield from unwanted visitors."

Sophie gulped. She had no doubt she knew who the "unwanted visitors" would be.

She and Sandor stepped under the glittering crystals as she whispered, "Everglen." The Leapmaster whirred to light as a single crystal refracted a beam of light to the ground. Sandor pulled her into the light as she waved goodbye to Grady.

* * *

"We're here," Sophie whispered sadly as she and Sandor arrived at the glittering gates of Everglen. The gates absorbed all the light and the only way to get past them was for her to teleport, but the butterflies flittering inside of her had told her teleporting probably wasn't the best idea. A pit of dread had grown in her stomach and she felt it spread to her hands as she reached toward the knocker to call one of the service gnomes. Sandor reached out a pulled her hand back as he pressed a gleaming crystal on a shiny square next to the gate knocker. After a few seconds, the doors swung open.

Sophie looked at Sandor inquisitively. "You have a key?"

"The proper word is a claudospore. Alden gave it to me soon after I recovered, saying that I was always welcome at Everglen, lest no one was available to open the gates."

She stared at him and then at the wide-open gates. She wished that they would close so that she didn't have to deliver the news. Maybe she should have taken Grady's advice and taken him and Edaline along with her. Sophie shook the thought away and clenched her fists. She had to do this. For her. For Keefe. For the Vackers and for the Dizznees.

"Let's go in," she told Sandor quietly as she led him through the gates and towards the door.

"Sophie!" Fitz called from the doorway, Biana and Dex in tow. Sophie's heart fell as she saw the worried looks on their faces. "Mr. Forkle—did you know he's actually Magnate Leto? Anyways, he told us you had something to tell us."

"Is something wrong?" Biana asked, her normally wrinkle-free face creased with worry lines.

"He sounded pretty worried," Dex added, staring at her with panic in his periwinkle eyes.

Sophie sighed, unable to look her friends in the eye. She knew they were already going through a lot, Fitz and Biana especially, and she didn't want to pour even more bad news upon them.

Sandor put his giant hand on her shoulder and gave a strong, comforting squeeze. "Perhaps we should have your parents along to hear the news," he told them, veering them toward the stairs to Everglen's common room.

Fitz nodded, catching Sophie's eyes.

 _What happened?_

Sophie shook her head. _Not here_. She transmitted in response, not wanting to cause a scene once Fitz reacted to the news.

 _It can't be_ all _that bad._ Fitz transmitted, his accented voice smooth in her mind. _At least, it can't be bad as Alvar leaving._

Sophie highly doubted that. Sure, Fitz and Alvar were brothers, but Sophie could sense a mild ravine of animosity between them, built up by jealousy, but neither could bring themselves to react to it since that wasn't what was expected out of a Vacker. But Keefe and Fitz were practically as close as brothers, and were probably much closer than Alvar and Fitz. She was also sure Biana would be heartbroken, and she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. What exactly was she supposed to feel?

Dex fell to her side, and grabbed her hand and squeezed.

"It's—it's not good news, right?" He asked.

"No, Dex," Sophie whispered, her eyes filling with tears, "It's not."

Sophie felt another shadow fall to her side and Biana appeared next to her. "Why isn't Keefe with you?"

Sophie could barely keep her emotions even, though she knew there were no Empaths in the vicinity to read her emotions, and felt her back straighten in surprise. She glanced at Biana, who frowned in apprehension. "I'll tell you once we find your parents."

In morose silence, they walked to Everglen's common room. It was a magnificent area, with glittering rugs, velvet couches with tiny diamonds interwoven into the fabric and the walls themselves were tastefully painted in hunter green, chartreuse, and lime, a combination that she never would've believe would work, but somehow it made the room seem brighter and more colorful, which felt completely inappropriate for the news she brought.

Della and Alden Vacker, along with Kesler and Juline Dizznee, were seated on one of the elegant couches. She looked at the three empty seats next to Kesler and Juline. Kesler eyed her knowingly. "We thought it would be best to leave the triplets at home."

Miraculously, Sophie managed to nod as Sandor motioned for Fitz, Biana, and Dex to sit on the couches next to their respective parents, and Sophie caught a glimpse of Dex grabbing both of his parents' hands.

"What is the matter, Sophie?" Alden asked, his accented voice clipped with anxiety.

Sophie heaved a sigh. She looked at each elf in the eye, lingering for an extra second when she met Alden's. "Promise me," she breathed, as she went for another round of begging everyone with her eyes. "Promise me you're all strong enough." She hated asking them, they had already been through so much, but it was the only way to break the news.

"We are," the group promised simultaneously, glancing at each other with solemn looks.

She opened her mouth, choking on the words. She glanced at Sandor, who gave her an encouraging stare, his gray eyes never blinking.

"Keefe, he—" Sophie paused and directed her eyes to the sparkly carpet. She had to do this. She had to be strong. "He joined the Neverseen."

* * *

For a few moments, silence ensconced the room and Sophie wondered if they had even heard her.

Biana's hands reached for both Fitz's and her father's as Fitz whispered "No," the same time Alden murmured, "It can't be."

"There—there must be some mistake," Della pleaded, her eyes filled with sadness of losing her son and a boy she considered practically to be her son as well. She turned to Sophie. "What exactly did he say?"

Sophie searched through her memories, unable to forget the nights from a few days back. She didn't think she'd ever forget it. _I can't pretend I'm who you want me to be anymore_ , he'd told her. And who exactly did he expect her to want him to be? She wanted him to be Keefe again, the carefree yet caring prankster who could change any atmosphere into a partying one. Her hands were immediately drawn to her necklace as she fiddled with the bead with the Panakes blossom that had the words _TRUST ME_ inscribed on the petals.

She took a deep breath as the vivid memories became real in her mind, and was unable to spit the words out. After a few minutes of disturbed silence, in which Sophie began to notice a single tear to trickle down Biana's cheek, Alden spoke up.

"Would it be better if I saw your memory?" Alden asked, his voice as morose as Eeyore, Sophie's character from Winnie the Pooh. "If it's too hard to talk about it?"

Sophie nodded, not wanting to explain as Fitz held up a hand to pause his father. "I should do it, I can get past her blocking."

Alden shook his head, agreeing in wonder, his teal eyes filled with sadness. "By all means. It'll be beneficial to practice some of the Black Swan's training, especially in a crisis such as this."

Sophie felt the usually soft tendrils of Fitz's mind as the entered hers harden into angry spokes as he replayed the memory over and over in her mind, memorizing the finest details to tell back to the others. She knew it wouldn't be an exact replica, since his memory wasn't photographic like Keefe's, but it was the best they had since she didn't feel like explaining the details.

When he was done, Fitz's eyes turned cold and dark, like identical pieces of tourmaline embedded into his skull. She wasn't sure she liked the new look.

"He did," Fitz muttered under his breath, angry vapor covering him like fog to the point where she barely recognized him. "He really did."

That seemed to confirm it for the others. Kesler and Juline, who had been holding as tightly to Dex as he held on to them, deflated and Dex's eyes searched hers with concern. Biana seemed to be the very epicenter of sadness as Della grabbed Alden's arm in panic.

"He knows everything about us," Della breathed, clutching her registry pendant fearfully. "Where we live, what we like, our weaknesses, our strengths."

"Shh," Alden soothed. "I'm sure Keefe would never betray us like that."

"He already has," Dex said darkly as his worried eyes froze into rage.

Sophie was surprised as she realized how much he sounded like Grady. Although they weren't blood-related, there was no doubting that the Dizznees and the Ruewens were kin.

"But he was such a nice boy!" Juline finally spoke, as if she couldn't comprehend that a boy of noble character and status as Keefe would feel like he needed to join the dark side.

She suddenly felt herself being flooded with a wave of remorse, and felt it necessary to defend Keefe. "He's not _bad_ ," she found herself saying. "He told me to trust him; that must mean he has a plan."

"Or maybe he's tricking you into a false sense of security only to overtake you when you least expect it," Fitz mumbled, his voice blacker than pitch. Sophie's eyes widened. She knew Fitz had a tendency to break into prolonged spurts of unparalleled anger, but she never expected it to ever be directed at _Keefe_.

"I think Sophie's right," Kesler spoke with finality. "I think we must trust Keefe with this one in hopes he will eventually make the right decision."

"I believe you're right," Alden agreed, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

Sandor cleared his throat, and Sophie jumped, forgetting he was there. "The both of you are correct and Mr. Sencen will make the right choice sooner or later, but I do not think it would be wise to pretend like this never happened. I would suggest that you are constantly on your guard, lest we underestimate Mr. Sencen's willpower."

Sophie nodded, although her insides turned into insidious jelly, spreading inside her until even her voice sounded like she was underwater. "That's what Magnate Leto and Tiergan said. The Black Swan still believe Keefe is good, but you should never trust a person fully until their true nature has been revealed."

"That _can't_ be Keefe's true nature," Biana insisted, and Fitz intertwined his fingers with his sister's while Alden and Della reached out to give their daughter a hug.

After a few moments of silence, Dex fidgeted on the couch and spoke up. "So...," he began, fiddling with something in his pockets, his eyes calm but his voice like venom. "We're trusting Keefe, but at the same time, we're not?"

Sophie bowed her head in agreement, as Sandor confirmed,

"Precisely."


	5. Unexpected Visitors

" **IS THIS ALL** really necessary?" Sophie asked as Edaline began to hook odd fixtures to the multitude of trees that ensconced Havenfield's grounds. From afar they looked like Christmas lights, small, flickering things that lit up an entire room, but from up close, Sophie saw that they were actually small, buglike things that looked suspiciously like glowworms strung on a lanyard.

Edaline laughed delicately. "They might not look pretty, Sophie, but they're going to be essential in keeping Havenfield safe."

Sophie was hardly convinced that small, glowing bugs were going to help guard her home. "What exactly are they?"

"These," Edaline said, pointing to one of the bugs. "Are called praemises. They're tiny, fluorescent insects that give off a high pitched shriek when they smell something that isn't familiar."

"Praemises," Sophie repeated, tasting the new word on her tongue. "Okay, fine. And what about those?" She pointed to clear spokes sticking out of the ground near the door to the entrance of Havenfield.

"Those are called irtos. They create highly unstable rainbows when someone who doesn't have the correct chemical composition walks past them." Edaline explained, as she began to string more praemises along the tree branches.

Sophie tilted her head in confusion. "So you mean only elves can get through, since that's the chemical composition they're looking for?"

Edaline shook her head. "We've also programmed them to accept gnomes as well, since we have so many working here."

"Yet another form of protection against ogres," Sophie whispered darkly, although she nodded in response to Edaline's comment. She decided to stop stalling and doing her best to ignore the biggest change in Havenfield's landscaping. The grandest alteration brought fear to her heart, as it symbolized that she and her friends and family were all in real danger.

"I guess there's no point in ignoring it," Sophie muttered, gesturing to the huge gated fence surrounding the property, marring it's natural beauty.

Edaline stepped down from the ladder she was using to string the praemises and reached to rub Sophie's back comfortingly. "It's for the best."

Sophie looked down. "I hate it." She looked up at Edaline, ashamed at the thought of what she might see.

But all Edaline did was stare at the fence and firmly say, "Me too."

Sophie ran her hands along the bars. It was lit brightly, as if it too, absorbed the light like the Vackers' fence did, but as soon as it had been installed a few hours earlier, Grady had explained to her that it was quite different. Edaline and him had decided since the Ruewens had an abundance of gnomes compared to the Vackers, since the Vackers didn't also have gnomes to take care of the animals in their possession, a light absorbing gate would prove to be too cumbersome, even with a claudospore. They had finally decided on a gate that let people through based on familiarity. Sophie had argued that that would be a system too fallible, but Grady explained that it was indeed a very thorough search, and the system analyzed the chemical composition, scent, bone structure, DNA, retinas, fingerprints and a plethora of other criteria before it chose to let someone in, and it did so in a matter of a few seconds.

With that, Sophie had conceded it declaring the gate protective enough, not wanting to let Grady and Edaline be hurt if the Neverseen ever came for her, but decided that she would hate it nonetheless.

The gate was ugly, with tall, greyish metal spokes and barbs in stark contrast to the green, natural beauty that Havenfield offered. It was like a buttercup in a field of bluebells.

"Come on, Sophie," Edaline ushered. "There's no point in staring at it any longer. Let's go inside."

She sighed as she let herself be dragged along inside Havenfield by Edaline. The familiar warm floor of home greeted her, but to her it felt cold as she made her way to her room. She turned to give herself one last look at the gate. All she could hear were Keefe's echoed words.

 _Trust._

Sophie closed her eyes as she made her way up the stairs, trying to drown out his voice, but to no avail. Edaline cast her a sidelong glace as she reminded her that dinner would be served in a few minutes. Sophie nodded as she fumbled to her room, where Sandor had been on guard. He let her pass with a mildly worried glance, but asked no questions.

She flopped onto her bed without bothering to change, allowing herself to sink into the downy fabric. She was too overwhelmed to deal any of this right now. What with Keefe and Alvar's betrayal, Prentice's awakening, dumping the news on the Vackers and Dizznees, and getting even more security features from Protection Dissection, Sophie was, in fact, exhausted. Although she would never admit it, the Life of Sophie Foster was not a life she would want to impose on even her worst enemy.

She was just seconds from falling asleep when the telltale _beep_ of her Imparter awoke her. Sleepily, Sophie rolled off her bed and sauntered to her desk, groaning when she saw that it was Fitz. She had no doubt she knew what he wanted to talk about.

Since her Imparter worked like a video phone, Sophie quickly checked her reflection in the mirror to ensure that her bedhead was none too disastrous before sliding to answer. She flopped backwards onto her bed to get comfortable.

Fitz didn't speak for a few moments after she answered, and stared at the floor in his room, where he was leaning by an open window. Sophie waited for him to speak, as he wouldn't have called her if he didn't have something to say.

"I don't blame him, you know," Fitz began, still not looking at Sophie.

"Neither can I," She answered, knowing instantly who he was talking about.

Fitz looked at her incredulously. "How can you not? He was going to brand you, quite literally I may add."

Sophie shrugged. "I understand what he's going through. It must be hard."

He looked away, but not fast enough so that Sophie couldn't see a flicker of darkness in his eyes. "I still don't trust him though."

Sophie stared at him, surprised. "I thought the whole point of our meeting earlier today was to establish the fact that we're still trusting Keefe, but at the same time, being wary."

"Maybe you are," Fitz started, fiddling with the pin joining his cape. "But I'm not."

Things must've been bad, Sophie realized, especially if Fitz, Keefe's best friend wasn't willing to trust him. Sophie knew it was up to her to calm him down, otherwise they might end up losing Keefe to the dark side for good. Trust was one of the few things he had asked for.

"How can you say that?" Sophie asked. "He's your best friend."

" _Was_ ," Fitz corrected. "Keefe _was_ my best friend." He looked at Sophie square in the eye, and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "How would you feel, if your best friend from Level Two, who you thought you knew better than anyone, suddenly turns into someone you hardly know?"

"But we still _know_ Keefe," Sophie insisted, resisting the urge to pull out an eyelash. "He's just...lost his way. But he'll find his way back, I'm sure of it."

"But it's not just that," Fitz clarified. "It's not _just_ Keefe. It's Alvar too." He leaned so far back that Sophie was worried he might fall through the open window in his room. "It's like we can't trust anyone anymore."

"We can too, Fitz—"

"How do I know the Black Swan are even on our side? Biana? My father and mother?" Fitz looked at her suspiciously. " _You?_ "

Sophie felt her heart break in half and nearly dropped her Imparter. Now Fitz was accusing _her_ of being a traitor? She felt tears fill her eyes as she forced them not to spill.

Fitz instantly recognized his mistake, and rushed to make amends.

"No, wait, Sophie, I didn't mean that—" He started, tripping over his words.

Sophie's finger hovered over the off button of the Imparter. "Goodbye, Fitz," she said coolly, before cutting the line.

If Fitz couldn't bring himself to trust her, she couldn't bring herself to trust him.

Well, not completely at least.

* * *

 _"Don't worry Sophie, we're not going to hurt you," Fintan whispered, as he drew nearer, his face a centimeter from hers._

 _"Yes, Sophie, trust us," Brant cooed._

 _The two men were dressed in black Neverseen cloaks, and loomed before her like the Grim Reaper, complete with ghostly scythes and everything._

 _"All we need is for you to swear fealty to us," Fintan griped, his face splitting into a grin._

 _"And then slit the throats of everyone you care about!" Brant finished, cackling wickedly._

 _With that, the men raced to her, and she did her best to run away, although she was running through a forest that was unfamiliar to her. The drooping leaves of the trees blocked her vision and she was forced to run blindly, shoving leaves out of her way. The pointy roots tripped her and more than often she found herself falling down, with Fintan and Brant close on her trail._

 _Suddenly, the path in the forest ended all too soon, with a single tree blocking her way. Sophie stopped short when she recognized the tree. It was Calla's tree! And with that, she flew to the tree on unseen wings and wrapped her arms around it. She was safe._

 _Until she felt Brant's hot whisper on her neck._

 _"Join us, Sophie."_

She awoke with a scream, her sheets tangled around her feet, her forehead drenched in a cold sweat. Sandor was instantly on her door. He gave three, short knocks.

"Is everything okay, Miss Foster?" He asked, his voice muffled by the door.

Sophie nodded, before she remembered that he couldn't hear her nod. "I'm fine!" she cried. She could hear his heavy goblin breathing shorten as he resumed his post. She flopped back onto the bed, the nightmare replaying in her head, her photographic memory recording every eerie detail.

She tossed and turned for a few minutes, before realizing that there was no way on Earth for her to go back to sleep. She quietly got up and stepped on the flowered carpet. Sophie creeped towards the door and opened it, knowing exactly where she wanted to go.

"And where do you think you're going, Miss Foster?" Sandor asked, his face anchored in a suspicious glare.

Sophie held her hands up in surrender. "Only to Calla's tree."

"And may I ask why?" Sandor questioned, not moving a muscle.

She felt her hair droop over her face, and she was glad for the protection as her cheeks reddened. "I had a nightmare."

Sandor nodded, and needed no more explanation. His hairy, gray hand grasped her tiny wrist as he led her down the stairs, and Sophie was glad for the security, although she wished she didn't need it.

As they neared the entrance, Sandor turned to her to ask,

"Would you like me to come with you or can I stay by the door? With all the new gadgets, I do not feel it necessary to be with you the entire way there if you do not wish me to be."

Sophie shook her head. She needed to be alone. She didn't know why, but she just had this _feeling_.

Sandor nodded solemnly. "Should you need me, call. Even the slightest whisper for help, and I will hear you."

"How?" Sophie couldn't help but ask.

He handed her a small stamp and ink pad. "Put this on. It works like a tracker, only etched on your skin and allows me to hear you at all times."

He failed to tell her this _before_ she stamped the hideous green swirly circle on the top of her hand. She froze.

Sandor laughed, a deep, creaky sound. "Do not be alarmed, Miss Foster, inkrolins wash off with water."

"Oh," Sophie said dully, staring at the stamp. That wasn't exactly what she was worried about. She studied the stamp. It was in the shape of a sun, although it had odd curlicues etched inside it, with runes marking the outer edge instead of sun rays.

"The goblin crest," Sandor explained. He looked at the dark sky. "Now go, be quick, Miss Foster. It would not be wise to be out for so long at this time of day."

Sophie nodded and began the walk to Calla's tree, near the ocean. It was hauntingly quiet and eerie, Sophie could hardly recognize the tall topiaries, and was glad that the animals were on the other side of the estate. A bone-chillingly wind had taken the air, and Sophie wished she had ventured out in a more thicker cape.

She stopped when she neared Calla's tree and opened her mouth to scream.

Someone was already there.

She shut her mouth instantly when a pair of icy blue eyes turned to look at her, widening in surprise when they met hers.

Keefe Sencen.


	6. A Male In Mail

**SHE STOOD THERE** , silent for a few moments, and it seemed like he had the same idea too. An intense staring contest was initiated between them, but that didn't stop Sophie's pounding heart.

She knew she should've done something, ran, called for Sandor, or at the very least, started a conversation, but her lips were glued shut as she stared at Keefe.

 _Trust_. Sophie told herself. It had been very easy to tell herself that trusting Keefe was a good idea, but that was back before she believed that she would never see him again, save for battle. But now, as she stared at the blond-haired former prankster, trusting him seemed enormously daunting.

For one thing, Keefe's appearance seemed to have changed dramatically, and he had only left a few days ago. His golden hair was still a perfectly disheveled mess as it had been before, but his ice blue eyes had taken up a hardness that Sophie had never known, forcing her to notice the new sharpness added his jaw. His tunic was black as night, and he even wore some version of mail vambraces and gauntlets, complete with an ebony crossbow and throwing stars hooked through a leather strap on his back. What disappointed Sophie the most was the pitch-colored cape with silver trim and a telltale eye symbol etched on the arm piece.

Keefe was the first to break the silence, his voice surprised but determined, as if hadn't wanted to be caught.

"Like what you see, Foster?"

A teasing note had fallen at the end of his sentence, but Sophie wasn't about to fall for it. Keefe wasn't her enemy, she told herself, but he had yet to prove himself that he was still her friend.

She set her jaw, hoping her voice wouldn't betray how scared she was. "No."

Keefe then began to look oddly nervous and took a step back from Calla's tree, deeper into the shadows. "I thought you wouldn't." He sounded defeated.

Sophie swallowed, bile filling her mouth. "You're lucky that I found you. If Sandor or Grady saw you, you wouldn't be here right now." She paused and looked down, her eyes watering. "What are you doing here, Keefe?"

He shrugged, and started to comb his fingers through the wispy leaves of Calla's Panakes tree, a small, invisible smile crawling up his face, the harsh lines melting away. "Don't know."

Well, if he was going to be difficult and not give her straight answers, she was going to be just as difficult as well.

"That's not an answer, Keefe," Sophie said, trying not to sound angry, but failing. She lifted her head when she realized something. "How did you not set off the alarms?"

"Alarms?" Keefe looked surprised. "What alarms?" He started to peer back and forth nervously, his fingers reaching towards his crossbow.

Sophie too began to look around the grounds of Havenfield. There were none of the protective mechanisms Grady had installed in sight. It made sense, concealing the traps would make them easier to ambush, save for the gate, of course.

"You really didn't notice the gate?" Sophie asked in confusion, gesturing towards the long fence. The gates nearly ensconced the whole of Havenfield.

Keefe's eyes darkened and his ice blue eyes reminded her of the sea during a storm. "Oh, _that_ gate. I never planned on going that far into the estate. I stay in the outskirts." He turned his head to look at Sophie from the corner of his eyes. "You must _really_ hate me if you put up a gate to keep me out."

"I—I," she stuttered, her cheeks blushing furiously as she tried to come up with a way to tell Keefe that she did not in fact hate him, but Grady and Sandor were very precautious. Instead, she brilliantly changed the subject. "What about the praemises?" Sophie asked, referring to the buglike things that she had seen Edaline hang up earlier.

Keefe raised an eyebrow. He turned around to show the back of his cape, covered in the small worms, who crawled all over him happily. "I think they like me."

"But—but how?" She ignored Keefe's mock-hurt at the question. All at once, the answer came flooding towards her. Sophie smacked her forehead at her stupidity. "Of course! The praemises work based off of familiarity!"

She was rewarded with one of Keefe's Famous Eyebrows-Raised 'Are You Serious Right Now?' Looks. "I used to be pretty familiar here, didn't I?"

" _Used to_ ," Sophie reiterated, her voice laced in sadness. She wasn't about to go off in a tirade, blaming Keefe on why he couldn't be a regular at Havenfield anymore, but she wasn't going to let him get away scot-free. "That was before."

Keefe looked at her, morosely nodding, not taking her bait. "Yeah," He sighed. "That was before."

"Miss Foster! Are you all right? You've spent quite a lot of time over there, and the night is growing old," Sandor's husky voice called from a few feet back.

Sophie nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw that her goblin-bodyguard was right. The sun was beginning to rise, and sky was turning from a velvety blue to a warm peach. She looked at Keefe, who too, seemed mesmerized by the beautiful sunrise. "You should go."

He nodded. "Take care, Foster." Keefe gave her a small smile before flipping his hood up. Sophie frowned. Now he looked like the rest of the rebels. Quick as a whip, he shoved a crumpled piece of paper into her hand before he held up an oddly red pathfinder and was gone.

Startled at the color of his pathfinder and by the sudden gesture, Sophie could hardly comprehend what was going on. She stared at the place where Keefe had just been standing. Had he even been there at all? What if this had just been a dream?

"Miss Foster!" Sandor huffed reprimandingly, and all of a sudden, he was at her side. Sophie quickly crumpled the note even further and stuff it in one of her legging pockets, hoping the goblin wouldn't notice. He peered at her closely, and she closed her eyes under his scrutinizing eyes. "Are you all right? You look a little flushed."

Sophie let out a deep breath, and shoved a lock of hair out of her face. He didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary. "Yes," She tried not to let her voice sound defensive, and managed to put on a light-hearted tone. She didn't know why she was protecting Keefe, but something about his note made her want to keep this her secret. "I'm fine, Sandor."

Suddenly, the goblin grasped Sophie's hand and stood erect with his nose high in the air. "Something has been here." He glanced at Sophie with a sharp glare. "Stay here." Sandor let go of her hand, and Sophie's heart began to race. What if he found evidence of Keefe? She nearly jumped out of her skin when Sandor walked a few feet before letting out an enraged growl. Disobeying orders, she ran to where he was, and gulped. That was where Keefe had last been.

Sandor angrily pointed to a small clump of gray dust. "Ash."

* * *

"I really can't believe they won't let you out of the house," Tam grumbled as he paced around Sophie's room, stomping on the flowery carpet. Linh, who was sitting on the bed next to Sophie the next day, gave her an apologetic glance for the ruined flowers.

"It's just for a few days," Sophie reassured. "Just until they figure out what happened. Grady said that if ash's involved, then so are the Neverseen. Who else would have any need to sneak around the outskirts so they wouldn't set off any of the alarms, tamper with the praemises, and cover up their scent with ash?"

She hadn't told any of her friends the fact that the only Neverseen agent in the vicinity was Keefe, because perhaps Linh would understand, but she highly doubted Fitz, Biana, Dex or Tam would. Emphasis on _Tam_.

"If only they'd let me read the shadowvapor of the place," he grumbled. "I could tell a lot more than they could."

Sophie didn't exactly know what to say to comfort Tam, so Linh stepped in, her soothing voice calming her brother down a bit.

"They've sanctioned the area 'highly dangerous'. They don't want you getting hurt, Tam," Linh sighed. "Mr. Forkle and the rest of the Black Swan are trying to figure out what happened."

Tam rolled his eyes. "Don't get me _started_ on Mr. Forkle. I'm willing to work with him, but he's still a stinky, good-for-nothing, sly . . . " He mumbled a few choice words, to which both the girls grimaced.

Sophie sighed. Perhaps if Tam knew who Mr. Forkle really was, he wouldn't judge him so harshly. But of course, she couldn't tell him that, or anyone for that matter.

"Please don't tell me the only reason you're here is so that you can grumble about Mr. Forkle," Sophie muttered. She knew getting Tam mad was probably a bad idea, but the grumpy boy was starting to get on her nerves.

"No, I'm not," Tam sniped. "The reason I'm here is so that I can say 'I told you so' about Mr. Blond And Handsome—"

"You know?" Sophie gasped. She didn't remember telling them about Keefe's betrayal. She probably should've though, but it completely slipped her mind.

Linh placed a comforting hand on Sophie's shoulder and said sadly, "Fitz and Biana told us." Was it just Sophie, but did Linh's pale cheek turn a _shade_ pinker, when she said Fitz's name?

Tam walked over to Sophie's desk and grabbed one of her silver pencils and began to twist it aggressively. "Fitz sounded pretty pissed off." He snapped the pencil in half. "And for the record, I am too. I knew we shouldn't have trusted that Blond Buffoon." He gave Sophie a confused look. "Also, I don't exactly know what this is about, but he told me to tell you that he's sorry."

Sophie gave a nod, knowing that he was referring to the hail she had received from Fitz earlier. "I'll tell him it's okay next time I see him."

Linh sighed from behind Sophie, her eyes closing morosely. "My brother does not mean what he says regarding Keefe. He is distressed because Keefe had begun to become a friend to him as well. He has broken his trust." She looked at Sophie levelly. "My brother's trust is hard to earn."

Sophie nodded. "Believe me, I know." She turned to Tam. "But Keefe told us trust him, remember?"

Tam turned to stare at Sophie boredly, running his hands through his silver bangs. _Bangs Boy_. "No, I _don't_ remember. What I _do_ remember, is that Fitz told us that you said that Sandor said that we should trust Keefe, and then not trust him at the same time at the meeting, the meeting we weren't invited to. Ring a bell?"

Linh let out an annoyed gasp at her brother's boldness, but Sophie gave her a look that said 'It's okay'.

Sophie looked down and began to play with the tassels at the hem of her tunic. What could she say to stop Tam from attacking Keefe the next time he saw him? She didn't know the extent of Keefe's new skills, but she had a feeling Tam would be the one to get hurt. "He did say that, but, what he meant was to be weary of Keefe, but still lend him your trust."

"I think I'll stick to being 'weary of Keefe', thank you very much," Tam snorted, reaching towards her desk for another pencil to snap. Sophie cringed. If he kept on doing that, she'd be pencil-deprived for her 'first' day of Foxfire in a few days. She tried not to think about the horrors that awaited her, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

Linh got up to walk towards her brother, and placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to calm down, and Sophie saw his muscles relax a bit. "Tam," She glanced at Sophie. "I think that we should do what Sophie says. We've known Keefe long enough to know that at one point his intentions were good, and we know better than anyone what it is like to be judged. Giving him a chance is the right thing to do."

Tam's shoulders slumped, and a defeated look came over his silvery eyes. "Maybe you're right."

Linh smiled, and then turned her grin towards Sophie, who returned it with ease. "Perhaps we should best be going. It is getting late and we do not want to impose."

"Oh!" Sophie gasped as she jumped off her bed, secretly glad that they were gone. Now she could read Keefe's note in peace. "It's no imposition!"

Linh smiled as she led her brother out the door, Sophie's 'cries' not distracting her one bit. "Sleep well, Sophie Foster."


	7. A Liar and A Thief

**THE NOTE LAY** uncrumpled in her hands. _  
_

 _Sophie_ —

 _Wanderling Woods_

 _Two Days from Now_

 _Entrance_

 _Midnight_

 _Tell no one_

 _-K_

Sophie scowled as she read the note for what seemed like the billionth time. Really? That was all he wrote? Keefe was expecting her to blindly follow him without more information than twelve words? Maybe she would've before, but things were different now. He was a Neverseen rebel. She was affiliated with the Black Swan. Honestly, she wondered why he had even bothered taking so much time to write the note on special paper when it would've taken him less time to tell her in person when he saw her at Calla's tree.

His intense secrecy and convolutedness was what surprised her the most. For instance, after through research in her many elvin textbooks, Sophie found out that Keefe had written this note on a _folatra_ , a special type of paper that worked with _sap ink_ , a kind of fluid that wrote in invisible ink to make the contents of the note unreadable to everyone besides whom the note was addressed to. Why would he have felt the need to go above and beyond in secrecy? Sophie knew how Keefe worked; he must have had something planned, whether it was an ambush or a meet-up, she had yet to figure out.

She flopped down backwards onto her swan-feather filled comforter. Two days from now, he had said in his letter; that meant tonight. In the Wanderling Woods. At midnight. With nobody but her and him.

Did he think Sophie was stupid?

He must've or why else would he think that she'd believe that it'd be a good idea to meet one of her former-friends-turned-into-an-enemy-who-was-currently-conspiring-with-her-kidnappers in a deserted graveyard with _no one_ else for protection?

Maybe she really was stupid, due to the fact that she was currently brainstorming ways to get Sandor off her tail in the middle of the night. With the fact that he was still writhing about Keefe's little excursion to Calla's tree, and his betrayal, Sophie wasn't sure that she would be able to lose him, even after she'd washed the inkrolin off of her wrist. He'd been stationed outside her door whenever she was in her room and followed her closer than a shadow. Losing him would be like losing her skin, and just as difficult.

She couldn't just _tell_ Sandor either. What if he said no? Then he'd be watching her even closely to see that she wouldn't sneak off and go meet Keefe anyways. Also, having Sandor watch her even more closely than he already would definitely be a pain in the butt.

Her negative thoughts were interrupted by an exuberant transmission.

 _SOPHIE! FRIEND! KEEFE!_

She jumped up, startled at Silveny's transmissions and was instantly ashamed. With all the excitement and drama going on for the past few days, Sophie had forgotten her promise to the Council to transmit to Silveny daily. Her only consolance was that Silveny's joyous transmissions didn't portray that she was in any imminent danger.

 _You doing okay, girl?_ She thought, and an image of an oddly blue, majestic sunset was sent to her by the alicorn, probably her current location.

 _FRIEND! FREE! VISIT!  
_

Sophie smiled, wishing she could, in fact, visit the alicorn, although she knew it was a bad idea. Leave it to a giant sparkly horse to brighten her day and then sadden her at the same time.

 _How's your foal?_ She transmitted an image of what she imagined a baby alicorn to look like, complete with tiny wings and a small spoke of a glittery horn.

 _BABY! BABY! SAFE! TREAT! KEEFE!_

Well, the thought that the baby was doing okay definitely eased Sophie's mind. She didn't know what to do about the boy's name Silveny kept transmitting happily, though. She didn't want to tell Silveny about Keefe, it would scare her, and besides—she wouldn't understand anyway. All she did transmit was,

 _Be careful with Keefe._

Sophie then decided it was definitely best that they sent Silveny and Greyfell away, especially with Keefe's leave. Silveny trusted him dearly and Keefe had far too much access to her. No matter what she had promised everyone about giving Keefe the benefit of the doubt, Silveny was just to precious to risk.

Silveny's answer took a few minutes to arrive, as if she was pondering the aspects of Sophie's statement. She marveled the brilliance of the alicorn, taking it as a personal compliment due to her DNA being modeled after the magnificent creature.

 _BABY . . . SAFE? KEEFE?_

She sighed, not knowing what to say. With Silveny so far away, perhaps she didn't have to scare the alicorn too much with Keefe's revelation.

 _Just be careful._

Sophie could imagine the sparkly horse nodding in agreement, taking in her mental words with interest.

 _SOPHIE. FRIEND. TRUST._

And with that, Sophie felt the alicorn's presence promptly leave her mind, and she hoped that her words were taken into consideration. All she wanted was to keep Silveny, Greyfell, and their foal safe from the Neverseen, and whatever hurdles nature decided to throw at them.

With that, Sophie vowed to start making good on her promises, especially the ones from the Council—well, promises she could agree with anyways. It wouldn't be easy though. She was then instantly reminded of her promise to trust Keefe.

If trusting him meant going to meet him in the Wanderling Woods, then so be it, although she definitely wasn't going to be stupid about it.

Her mind whirring in a billion different directions, Sophie came up with the perfect plan to sneak out.

* * *

"Miss Foster, are you expecting me to believe that Silveny and Greyfell want you to meet them in the middle of nowhere _at midnight_ , and you don't want me to come with you because you are afraid that the alicorns will be unnerved by my company, and you don't think that they will appreciate the presence of trackers either?" Sandor asked, his beady goblin eyes boring into hers.

Sophie did her best to avoid his glare as she stared at her shoes. "Yes," she replied meekly, hoping that he wouldn't pry and therefore catch up on her lie.

All he did was cross his hands over his chest and raise an eyebrow. "That sounds like more of a plan to get rid of me rather than help the alicorns."

"It's not!" She yelped, to what she thought was a bit too quickly. He didn't look convinced. "You see, Silveny and Greyfell have been feeling lonely, after being by themselves for so long, and they want some company, namely—me."

Sandor shook his head and raised a finger and made a list. "I see many things wrong with your story, Miss Foster. One being the alicorns haven't even been gone for a week. They've gone decades without any contact and were perfectly fine."

Sophie blushed. She hadn't thought of that when she spun her lie.

"And two—," Sandor continued. "Alicorns are oftentimes more morning creatures than night owls. If you would really like the see them, you can arrange a meeting _at Havenfiel_ _d_ , under my supervision, in the morning."

She groaned. Keefe was the brilliant liar in the group, not her. The best lie she'd ever told was that one time she had told her sister Amy that she hadn't stolen her MP3 player when she actually did. Of course, Amy, being an experienced liar, had seen right through her mumbling and stuttering. She would need another tactic to distract Sandor. She suddenly remembered that Keefe had told her the best lies were told when there was some truth in them.

Sophie pretended to guiltily shift her gaze to the ground, and did her best to imitate an embarrasedly-sad voice. "You're right," She mumbled. "The alicorns never arranged a meeting. I-I-," she paused, not knowing what to say. She was then reminded of Keefe's brilliant acting in front of King Dimitar, and how distressed he looked, and drew her lie off of what she remembered hearing him say and how he sounded. "I just missed them so much that _I_ arranged a meeting. I just thought seeing them would stop me from wishing they were here." It wasn't entirely untrue.

She dared to take a peek at Sandor's features. His gaze had softened a bit, but was still the same unrelentingly protective countenance she had seen before.

He sighed and raised his eyes to the ceiling, twisting his throwing stars absentmindedly. "Then pray tell, Miss Foster, _why_ didn't you arrange this 'meeting' in the morning? And at a place where everyone could see you? Not in the middle of nowhere without anybody else?"

Yikes—this is where it really became a lie. "Well—that was the alicorns' doing. They've finally understood the whole reasoning behind setting them free, and want to keep themselves a secret, especially to keep their baby safe. And you know how Greyfell gets when he sees a tracker, and how Silveny becomes unnerved when she sees you." She _really_ hoped that that didn't sound insulting.

Sandor sighed his squeaky sigh, a sound Sophie had become very accustomed to, especially since most of the times they were directed at her. "We'll see, Miss Foster, but just this once. And only—" He stared at her straight in the eye, letting her know that without his last point, she wouldn't be allowed to 'meet the alicorns.' "If your parents will allow it."

* * *

Sophie let out a deep breath as she crouched besides her bed, waiting for the few minutes before midnight.

It had taken _quite_ a while for Grady to number off his extensive list of why he thought that this was a bad idea, and Edaline wasn't too keen on the endeavor either. But with her brilliant crying technique and 'fake admittance' routine, she had managed to convince them to let her go as well, provided she brought her home crystal as well, although she had Sandor disable to tracking feature.

Besides her was the purple backpack that had served her so well in the past, from relocating from the Forbidden to the Lost Cities and then late moving into Alluveterre with the Black Swan. She had filled it with a melder—she didn't dare use it on Keefe, but in the case that he had brought 'friends' along, she wanted to be prepared. Also, she had managed to swipe an inkrolin from Sandor. She had had the brilliant idea that in case Keefe started acting shady, perhaps she could manage to stamp an inkrolin on him and have Sandor track him.

That was a last resort, due to the fact that the only way to track using the inkrolin was hook it up to equipment that could read the enzymes of the stamp, and she had no idea how to use it, and would be forced to give up the information to Sandor, and then he, Grady, and Edaline would know that she lied. Sophie had never _truly_ lied before, and was surprised at how scary good Keefe's tactics made her at it. She smiled fondly. Maybe Keefe _was_ a bad influence.

Along with the melder and inkrolin, which resided at the bottom of the backpack (in case Edaline decided to glace at what was inside) sat Ella on top. Having Ella along with her gave Sophie a whole new sense of security as she clutched Keefe's note in her hand. She tucked the folatra in her pocket, glanced at her nectar-powered clock which read 11:50 and proceeded to walk down Havenfield's elaborate staircase. She wanted to say a quick goodbye to Grady and Edaline.

The pair were sitting at the mahogany dining table, etched with intricate golden leaf designs, and looked barely awake, mugs of lushberry juice in their hands. Sophie felt touched that they had waited up for her to leave, and the pit of guilt residing in her stomach grew stronger. How did Keefe manage to pull off lying to his parents, when one of them happened to be an Empath, when she felt like she was going to burst by telling a small tale to her Conjurer and Mesmer parents?

Lucky for her, Edaline and Grady didn't say anything and just wrapped her into a tight hug, and Sophie could barely contain herself as she embraced them back. This was quite possibly one of the most stupidest and down-low things she'd ever done, and she'd done some dangerous things. Why did lying have to take so much effort? Exchanging Keefe's trust for Grady and Edaline's-was that really a fair trade? She didn't have time to decide as Edaline pulled back and began to stroke her hair fondly.

"Tell Silveny 'hi' for us," she murmured.

"And tell Greyfell he'd better take good care of Silveny and their foal," Grady added, in a very fatherly way. Sophie almost giggled.

She nodded, her remorse almost overflowing after the momentary fit passed. "I will."

Her parents both pulled away and ushered towards her the Leapmaster. Sophie instantly panicked. If she took the Leapmaster, they'd instantly know where she was going. Hadn't she told them that she was going to an 'undisclosed area'? She didn't remember.

"Silveny said that we should meet in a valley far up North," she lied, turning towards the front door. "I'll have to teleport there since even the Leapmaster 500 doesn't have the correct location."

She _really_ hoped that Grady wouldn't ask her to light leap, because as she'd been told many times, the particles due to light leaping could be tracked, and she didn't think Grady would be too happy as to where she went if he happened to know where she was going.

Lucky for her, Grady nodded, although he didn't look too happy. "Of course." He and Edaline walked her towards the door. Before he opened the elaborately designed entrance, Grady turned to her. "Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

Sophie wanted to shake her head _no_ , but she knew she couldn't say that. "It's just Silveny and Greyfell, not the Neverseen." _Liar, liar, pants on fire._

Grady closed his eyes, as if having a private conversation with himself in his head and nodded slowly. "We trust you."

She felt her heart implode as he said those words, and felt tears prick her eyes. What had she gotten herself into?"

Sophie actually felt a tear leak out as Edaline and Grady reached out to hug her one last time, but quickly brushed the tear away as she sauntered out the door. The last thing she heard before she walk towards a short ledge just off of Havenfield's property was Edaline's sweet voice calling,

"Stay safe!"

Once she got to the ledge, since she refused to step back into the cliffs that were actually _on_ Havenfield's land because they brought back far too many terrible memories, Sophie began to have second thoughts.

All in one night, she had managed to lie to Sandor, her parents, steal an inkrolin from her bodyguard, and sneak out on an excursion that may or may not be an ambush.

For Keefe.

She was either an incredibly good friend or a very stupid idiot walking into a trap.

 _Well_ , she told herself, _I've had come this far._

With that, she constricted her focus and conjured up an image of the flowery arch that was the entrance to the Wanderling Woods.

Without a second thought, she pushed her feet off the ledge and jumped, thunder clapping as her mind leaped into the void.


	8. So This Time In Three Days?

**Okay guys, I had such a hard time with this chapter. I actually started it the day I posted the last chapter, but I was suddenly hit by a 4 day long bout of writer's block, so I only could come up with a sufficient chapter today. Sorry about that. Also, if you didn't know, I have a new KotLC story out, it's called Keeper of the Lost Cities React, and it's basically a bunch of short oneshots with the Keeper Crew reacting to a bunch of stuff. That'll be updated daily, since they're so short, but don't worry, I'll still be updating Lodestar as often as I can. Until then, please enjoy and review!**

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Sophie squinted her eyes in hard concentration, doing her best to block out any doubts and distractions.

A sharp picture of the archway to the Wanderling Woods appeared in her mind, the white flowered vines overlapping a golden entrance perfectly preserved in her photographic memory.

All too soon, she was there, landing clumsily a few feet away from the entrance. She flinched. Her back was bound to be covered in bruises by the time she returned at Havenfield.

The full moon was bright in the sky, yet Sophie still had to squint to see if there was any life beyond the curled-up, flowerless Wanderlings. The lack of visibility sent shivers up her spine.

Sure enough, she spotted a shadowy figure, ensconced in darkness leaning up against the golden arch, crushing the flowers with his back. The figure's hood was up, but she couldn't mistake the eerie, silver eye symbol etched on the arm. Sophie gulped. If that wasn't Keefe, she was in big trouble.

She took a step forward, and was glad when the opalescent pebbles scattered on the ground made not a sound, a characteristic of the Wanderling Woods she was very grateful for.

"'Bout time you got here," the voice drawled. The familiarity of the voice caused Sophie to jump up, but she calmed down quickly when recognition set it.

The figure took a step forward, reaching a hand towards her. "You don't have to be afraid, Foster, it's just me," Keefe whispered.

Sophie let out a long breath she hadn't even been realized she'd been holding. This was it. She was here, he was here, and she had no idea why. She tried not to let her voice sound shaky as she murmured, "Why did you call me here, Keefe?"

Keefe sighed, and leaned back against the archway, and Sophie noticed that his crossbow, quiver, and armor were noticeably absent. His outfit lonely consisted of a black, long-sleeved tunic and loose gray pants, along with his thick, hooded cape.

He wouldn't meet her eyes, and instead mumbled his answer to the ground. "Because, I need your help."

Sophie's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That's it? No 'I'm Sorry Sophie for Betraying You and Then Leaving You All Alone With A Huge Mess on Your Hands Especially Since You Tried to Help Me and Still Believe You Can' Speech?"

She sighed. What had she been expecting? For Keefe to apologize? To come back with her to their friends? If Sophie knew Keefe, and she liked to think she did, she knew that he was stubborn, and once his mind was fixated on something, he wouldn't let it go.

What bothered her most was that Keefe wouldn't look into her eyes. He ran a hand through his hair nervously, a habit that she assumed that he had picked up from Fitz. "Come on, Foster, you know I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not good enough," Sophie said sharply, believing every word she said. She closed her eyes. This meeting was already off to a bad start. Getting upset was not going to change anything. She turned her head so that she stared directly into his ice blue eyes. "What I need to know is _why_ ,"

She already had an inkling of a motive, but she needed to hear it from him. She needed to know why he had done what he had done.

"Sophie, we've been through this," Keefe muttered sadly. Sophie didn't ignore the fact that he had taken to calling her 'Sophie' again. "I had to. According to my mom, it's my destiny."

That wasn't enough for her. "And what if you want to choose a different path?"

"And what if I don't?" Keefe replied, and Sophie didn't have to be an Empath to tell that his steely voice ensured that this was a sore subject for him.

"You're telling me that you _want_ to become a rebel? A Neverseen?" She could hardly believe her ears.

"Don't tell me you're not a rebel too," Keefe retorted, although instead of angry, his voice sounded sad. "And besides, I've never actually fit in with the Black Swan."

"It's not about fitting in, Keefe, it's about doing what's _right_ ," Sophie looked at him straight in the eye, relieved when he didn't duck his head or turn away. "Can you tell me in a clear conscience that you believe what you're doing is the right choice?"

"It is when you're trying to save someone," Keefe blurted, his eyes widening when he realized what he'd said.

Sophie nodded. So the truth finally came out. "I was wondering when you were going to tell me about how you were going to try to save your mom."

Keefe looked dejected and ashamed as he closed his eyes and leaned once more against the archway. "I know she's evil and stuff, but . . . I can't just leave her there-whether she's alive or not is a different story."

"So _that's_ why you joined," Sophie concluded. She had already known that Keefe wouldn't have left without a plan, and this was her idea at what his plan might've been. "You needed to get closer to her-them,"

"Yes," Keefe agreed, his eyes darkening. "And no."

Sophie looked at him, startled. "And no?"

Keefe turned away. "Let's just talk about the 'yes' part for now,"

She wanted to ask more questions, to see what he was up to, but she knew that pushing him was not the answer. "Fine. What's your plan?"

"Actually," Keefe began. "The plan is the reason why I need your help."

Sophie plopped onto the pebbled ground of the Wanderling Woods and looked up at him eagerly, in attempts to lighten the mood. "Do tell."

Keefe laughed at her expression, and hesitantly sat down beside her. His voice then turned serious. "Just promise me one thing. If I ever tell you to run or leave, you will."

"That depends on-" Sophie started solemnly. "The circumstances."

Keefe looked at her, his ocean blue eyes turning into ice. "I mean it, Sophie. This is going to be dangerous. _You_ are not getting hurt."

"And you are?" She retorted. When he didn't answer but continued to stare stonily, Sophie added, "Maybe if you tell me your plan I can actually give you an answer."

"Fine," Keefe grumbled, straining the stones in his hands. He was sure not to keep any eye contact with her as he stared at the ground. "Fintan would only tell me so much about the caves near the Lake of Blood. He suspects that's where they have her kept."

"Suspects?" Sophie asked. "They only _suspect_ that they know your mother's location?"

Keefe's eyes darkened. "Oh, they know more, trust me, considering they're the ones who put her in the ogre prison, but they won't say a word. They apparently are having a hard time trusting _me_ , ever since I let you get away."

Sophie closed her eyes as the memory played in her head. She would never forget that day. That was the day when Keefe had left to the Neverseen. Brant and Fintan (and Alvar, before he left), had her cornered in the Neutral Territories when she had followed Keefe when he had left the Sanctuary. They had tried to force him to brand her with her own flaming Black Swan monocle, but Keefe helped her escape in the nick of time. The only problem was that he had stayed behind.

"They still let you join after that?" She asked, hardly believing that such an act would allow his access to the elusive group.

His voice turned as dark as his eyes when he answered. "Yeah, Fintan was quote unquote 'impressed'. They said that I had _potential_ , whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Potential's not always a bad thing, Keefe." Sophie's attempt to be comforting was lost on him.

He was silent for a few seconds before he continued, "Anyways, they said that any more information will be 'disclosed' once I prove myself."

Judging by the stormy way his features were arranged after he said that, Sophie wasn't sure that proving himself would necessarily be a good thing.

"Prove yourself how?" She had the guts to ask.

His lack of answer was all the response Sophie needed.

Trying to fill in the ominous silence that followed, she fiddled with her hair and tried to return to the previous conversation. "So what do you need me for?"

Keefe stared at the ground a little while longer, as if he were having an internal argument with himself before turning to look at her, a mixture of desperation, grief, and fear filling his eyes. "Three days from now, I need you to help me track her thoughts once I get to the Lake of Blood in the Starkrial valley-where Fintan said the ogre prison was."

"You mean _we_ ," Sophie corrected.

Keefe shook his head. "No, you're going to stay a safe distance away so you can transmit to me, but not close enough to be seen."

"No," Sophie was going to her put her foot down on this one. "If I'm going to help you with anything, _I_ need to be there. With you."

"It's too dangerous," Keefe countered, his eyes glinting. "Being around me is already risky-,"

"If you don't let me come, a.) I won't help you, and b.) I'll tell Fitz and the others," Sophie interrupted, trying her best to sound menacing. She hoped that threatening to tell Fitz and the rest of their friends was good enough.

Keefe's eyes opened in terror and surprise. "No!" He grabbed her wrist, and took a deep breath, and his eyes widened in terror as he realized she meant what she said. "Come on Sophie, you can't tell them!"

"Why not?" She challenged, not understanding why he was so afraid.

"Because-" He stopped short and took a deep breath. "They wouldn't understand, okay?" He turned towards her mournfully. "Asking you for help is already a huge risk-for both you and for me."

"Well, it looks like we're taking a huge risk, since I'm coming whether you want me there or not." A small smile started crawling up her face. She was instantly reminded of the time when Keefe had barged into her room the night they were planning to run away to the Black Swan, and had insisted on knowing what she was up to.

Sophie closed her eyes and frowned. Things weren't so easy anymore.

* * *

"Any idea when we're going back to Alluveterre?" Biana asked as she absentmindedly brushed Linh's hair.

The group of friends were sitting in a circle on the floor in Everglen's sitting area. Although there was an abundance of plush velvet couches, the group preferred the lush carpeting so they could sprawl out. The only person missing, besides Keefe, was Dex, who had decided not to come since Kesler had needed him at Slurps and Burps.

Fitz shrugged his shoulders. "It's hard to say. I think it's safe to say that we're not going back any time soon."

"Yeah," Sophie agreed. "I already am planning to go back to Foxfire in a few days." She let out a groan and rolled her eyes. "You can imagine how awesome and fun that's going to be."

Biana paused brushing Linh's hair long enough to nod and turn to Tam. "Do you think you guys will enroll in Foxfire this year?"

"I doubt it," Tam grumbled, and ran a hand through his silvery bangs. "Quitting Foxfire and going to Exillium is usually a permanent thing when it comes to schooling. We made our choice and it's best we stuck to that, even if we can attend Foxfire. Besides," He turned away. "I'm not exactly sure we'd be welcomed there either."

After some debacles involving Linh's ability as a Hydrokinetic, she had been kicked out of Foxfire, and her embarrassed parents supported her banishment. Tam, her brother, not wanting to leave her alone, went to Exillium with her, even though his ability as a Shade had not yet caused a problem. They had been staying in a clearing in Wildwood as their home, but Mr. Forkle and the Black Swan had moved them to the home of a deceased gnome, Ermete, and soon after, Tam and Linh had decided to become members of the Black Swan. Before Calla had decided to reincarnate as a Panakes tree, she had forced the Council to pardon Sophie, Biana, Fitz, Keefe, Dex, Tam and Linh from any mishaps that they might have caused. Because of that, Tam and Linh were no longer required at Exillium

"Still," Biana argued. "Exillium is a nice, if but odd, school and all, but Foxfire is the best of the best."

Linh shook her head ruefully, causing Biana's brush to tangle in her hair. She flinched. "As far as the Council thinks, we are still Waywards, no matter the school which we attend."

Without Keefe to blurt out some witty remark, the group sat in silence, lost in their thoughts, the only sound coming from Biana's brush.

Trying to break the silence, Sophie asked, "So, anyone hear any news from Mr. Forkle about Prentice?"

Fitz nodded, and Sophie wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel offended since Fitz seemed to know more about the person whose mind she was supposed to heal than she did. "Yeah, he said that Prentice is doing well, since you know, he's awake, but he's not fully stable."

Biana shot her brother a questioning look. "Not fully stable how?"

"Not fully stable, like, his consciousness is there, but his thoughts are all over the place." Fitz shrugged. "He's incoherent."

Sophie's eyes widened as she was instantly reminded of the promise Mr. Forkle had made to her. "So will I still be able to heal him?"

Fitz's face turned downcast. "He didn't say. Wylie's not having much luck with him either."

Sophie was instantly filled with panic and her head felt as though she was underwater. If Prentice was incoherent, how was she going to be able to navigate her way through his broken mind to heal him? Her panic was turned into remorse when she realized that she had been so busy with Keefe to worry about healing Prentice and restoring his family.

"Speaking of the Black Swan," Tam said, interrupting her thoughts. "How did Mr. Forkle's investigation go?"

She cocked her head in confusion. Investigation? "What do you mean?"

Tam rolled his eyes. "Last time we were at your house, there was a bunch of Black Swan elves milling around Calla's tree."

"Oh! _That_ investigation!" Sophie replied, trepidation filling her heart. She was unbelievably glad that there were no Empaths in the room, because if there were, her panic would be felt from a mile away. "He didn't say anything."

Biana and Fitz, who didn't know of the investigation, nodded, and Linh looked as if that answer sufficed for her. The suspicious look Tam gave her made her heart reach Full Time Panic Mode.

 _You're hiding something,_ Tam shadow-whispered, stepping closer so his shadow was upon her.

Sophie nearly jumped out of her skin when she remembered he could do that. _NoI'mnot_ , she transmitted, all too quickly.

His scrutinizing glare intensified tenfold. _Yes, you are. I'm good at reading people_. _Shade, remember?_

 _I'm not hiding anything-I swear,_ Sophie lied. Keefe was right. Tam, Fitz, Biana, Linh-they _wouldn't_ understand.

Tam took a step back, taking his shadow with him, but not before he whispered,

 _Well, whatever you're hiding, it had better be worth it_.

Sophie gulped and Keefe's determined face filled her mind.

 _It is._

* * *

 ***hides* Yeah, so that wasn't my best chapter was it? Ugh, it's just really hard to write Keefe now. I don't know if he's still a smol jokester or a broken baby. :\**

 **Anyways, UGH THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! Like, seriously, whenever I see a new review, I get so happy, it's kinda embarrassing.**

Guest 48

Wow awesome! Piz update

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 **THANKS!**

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Grace

I. LOVE IT! "She shut her mouth instantly when a pair of icy blue eyes turned to look at her, widening in surprise when they met hers.

Keene Sencen." AHHHHHH YAAYYYY!

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 **Lol, yeah, that was one of my favorite parts to write! :) I'm so glad you enjoyed!**

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this isnt real right? fitz didnt betray her? shannon messenger didnt write this? cuz if she did, im literally gonna scream (But great job!)

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 **Thanks again, Grace! Anyways, I'm not exactly sure what you mean...perhaps clarify? :)**

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Guest

Awesome!

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 **THANKS!**

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fluffybunnies13

This is great so far! It feels a lot like Shannon Messenger's writing style, and I love how you planned everything out and even made a glossary!

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 **Thank you so much! It's kinda astonishing that you compare me with Shannon Messenger because dude, no one can write like she does!**

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AlyssPotter

LOVED CHAPTER 6! Can't wait to read more :) Fantastic job, this is shaping up beautifully!

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 **YOU ARE AWESOME! THANKS! :)**

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JannieE

I. Love. This. Fanfiction! KOTLC are my favorite books, and you're certainly helping the cause! You're an awesome writer. Keep writing!

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 **Thank. You. So. Much! :D I totally appreciate it!**

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Sassy di Angelo

Thank you for this chapter! I was so excited to see it! AND THEN YOU FAVORITED MY STORY! I was so happy when you did that because you are an amazing writer (better than me, definitely) and having you actually like something of mine is amazing! Great chapter and update soon! Thanks for being awesome! (So many exclamation points in this review, what is it with that?)  
Sassy di Angelo :)

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 **Um, dude, in case you haven't noticed: you're an awesome writer! (Yes, that deserved two exclamation points!) I loved Through The Spyball (for those of you who haven't read it-go read it now!)! Thank you so much!**

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 **Quick question guys: Wow, I was reading through some fanfictions the other day, and nobody seems to like Tam or Linh. Why not? Mind you, I'm not a huge fan of them either, but they make my ships work out nicely, and they're not too horrible of characters. Thoughts?**

 **Next update: Sorry dudes, but the next update might not be in a week or so, because I have realized I am neglecting my darling Ninja Turtle stories, and really need to start posting on those. So, therefore, next update will be most earliest, in two weeks.**


	9. Stark Contrast

**Um...hey guys. Sorry for being kinda MIA lately. Also, sorry if this chapter kinda sucks, I was in a hurry. Anyways, please review and enjoy!**

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"Sophie, staring at the calendar isn't going to make it go away," Edaline said, prying Sophie gently away from the demonic calendar she'd been glaring at, where the words "START FOXFIRE" were written in sparkly blue letters just the day ahead.

"Maybe," Sophie grumbled, her eyes still fixated on the terrible date. "But I can still try."

"Come on, Sophie," Grady chided, running a hand through his blond hair in frustration, although he was smiling. "It can't be that bad. At least you'll have Sandor to protect you and," His eyes darkened a bit. "Master Leto."

Sophie sighed. Ever since she had told her parents that Mr. Forkle had revealed himself as Master Leto, Foxfire's newly-assigned principal, Grady had been grumbling about how "the Black Swan had been right under their noses the whole time."

Besides, she was still pretty upset that Grady and Edaline had decided it was best to start school earlier than she had originally planned.

"Tell you what," Edaline smiled, her hands grasping Sophie's shoulders fondly. "Since it's technically your first day of Foxfire, why don't we go out and do something fun?"

Sophie smiled at that. When the Opening Ceremonies came around every year, signaling the beginning of a new year at Foxfire, families oftentimes went out together to enjoy the last few days before school started and before they actually attended the Ceremony. Judging by the fact that when she finally began Year 4, she would have to dress in a scaly dragon costume, Sophie was glad that it wasn't in fact the day of the actually Ceremonies.

Nevertheless, the idea of spending a day together with her family, not worrying about Keefe's ominous plans, or Prentice, or her friends, sounded pretty enticing.

"Okay," she grinned, delighted to see both Grady and Edaline's faces lighting up. "Let's do it." She paused. "As long as Sandor doesn't go with us."

* * *

"Okay," Sophie sputtered, stepping out of the whirlpool that had propelled her, Grady and Edaline under the sea. She was still grumbling as she dried herself off with the cushy-spongy thing she had landed on. "That was not fun." She had originally assumed that the massive tornado-like structures wouldn't be as terrifying as they had been when she had rode them with Fitz and Alden, along with the many times she's ridden a whirlpool to Atlantis besides that, but unfortunately, she was wrong.

Despite this, she couldn't help marvel at the beauty that surrounded her in Atlantis. The crystal towers, the increasingly horrifying eurypterid system, and the sheer hustle and bustle of the elves' most secure city had always been an elusive mystery to her, but since now she understood the nature of the Psionopath-designed force field surrounding the city, she realized at how fragile Atlantis really was.

If for whatever reason, the force field happened to shatter, the entire city would be in ruins. Even with elves' superhuman underwater breathing capabilities, she was sure that the result would be catastrophic and guilt ridden.

"So," Edaline began, breaking Sophie out of her spontaneous little reverie. "Is there any place you'd like to start with in particular?" She gestured to the vast array of stores clustered throughout Atlantis, each advertising various sales and deals. "There's plenty to chose from, and we're up for anything you want."

"As long as it doesn't involve boys," Grady added. "Besides me."

Sophie shrugged and smiled. "Maybe to the jewelry shop?" She pulled up her sleeve to reveal her bracelet. "I think I'm due for another charm."

Grady gave a small, but sincere smile. "Well, since you are technically starting school, I guess it's high time we added a new charm to that bracelet of yours."

"Any charm you have in mind?" Edaline asked as they strolled through the streets, not bothering to take a eurypterid carriage, after Sophie had admitted to her odd dislike of them. She also noticed that Edaline and Grady also blatantly ignored the whispers that seemed to follow them like a shadow. She kind of hoped it was due to the fact that the pair didn't go out much, but from the faint sounds of "Traitor" and "Black Swan" that echoed through the streets, she knew that Grady and Edaline had no fault in their newly tarnished reputations.

Like the good parents they were, Edaline and Grady did their best to shield her away from the drama, but Sophie knew it was best to own up to the fact that she had single-handedly destroyed the Ruewen name, and mouthed "It's okay," to her parents.

When they finally arrived at the jewelry shop, they were surprised to find it emptier than a ghost town. There was a tall, thin man, dressed in immaculate clothing from head to toe with his black hair pulled tightly down the back of his head in a ponytail managing the counter and the luster-cube scanner, but his focus was directly invested in what looked like an Imparter.

In front of him were tables upon tables upon tables of jewelry and charms, each designed perfectly without flaw, glistening in the high, overhead crystal chandeliers.

There were gorgeous Alexandrite mood rings, red diamond necklaces, black pearl earrings that were dusted with a fine coat of diamonds, Peacestones carved into simple pendants among other rare Elvin treasures embedded into anklets, bracelets, and every other piece of jewelry imaginable.

"That's odd," Sophie saw Edaline whisper to Grady. "This particular store is usually bustling with customers."

Grady nodded back grimly. "I know. It's odd to find it so empty."

"Well," Edaline said brightly, even though Sophie knew that the smile was forced. She bet that the lack of customers gave her a bad feeling. It definitely did for her, and she was the one with an inkling of an idea as to why the store was so empty. Edaline gestured to a glass case in the corner. "Why don't you begin picking out your charm, Sophie?" Edaline glanced at Grady and motioned for him to follow. "Here, we'll come with you."

As she made her way over to the glass case, Sophie couldn't help but wonder why the storeclerk had yet to acknowledge their presence. The last time they had come to this particular jewelry store, there had been a different clerk, and from what she had seen, the clerk had been very alert and friendly.

Finally, she arrived at the case and peered at the beautiful charms. There were thousands upon thousands to chose from, from tiny little unicorns made of diamond, to charms the size of an acorn in the shape of gold leaves. But Sophie's eyes were immediately drawn to a delicate starkflower charm, the petals alternatingly made of onyx and carved black pearl, giving the charm a shady, yet iridescent glow. The beautiful stones almost made the normally ugly flower presentable.

With tender hands, Sophie picked up the charm, amazed at the sheer detail and work put into it, instantly reminded of Calla and her famous starkflower stew, in which she imbued the essence of starkflower, leaving the petals themselves a milky white.

"Calla," Sophie breathed as she fingered the charm, a wave of memories flooding her as she remembered the passionate and kind gnome, who sacrificed herself to be the cure for the plague which had been spreading throughout the gnome population, killing some off slowly and painfully, with only short-term remedies to make the disease more bearable.

"A starkflower?" Edaline asked in confusion as she noticed Sophie poring over the flower charm. "Are you sure?"

Sophie only needed one word to answer. "Calla," she repeated, hoping the meaning would suffice, although Grady and Edaline were never at Alluveterre to experience the delicious stew for themselves.

Grady smiled as he took the charm from Sophie's hands and began to examine it. "You never cease to amaze us, Sophie. Most girls would go for the spinel hearts-" He gestured towards the plethora of other charms. "And Jolie usually prefered the sapphire mermaids." He shook his head good naturedly and laughed. "But you chose what our world declares to be 'The Ugliest Flower In The History of Elfkind'."

"It's not that bad," Sophie grinned, even though she knew the starkflower was every bit as horrid-looking as Grady said, but Calla had brought it into a new light for her. Or maybe that was just the stew.

Grady held his hands up in surrender jokingly. "Whatever you say."

"Come on, you two," Edaline chirped, mockingly dragging Sophie and Grady to the counter. "We have to pay for these before we leave."

As they neared the country and the grouchy-looking man, Sophie couldn't help but notice that during their very loud conversation, the clerk hadn't bothered to look up from his Imparter even once.

When they finally reached the counter and were well in the man's line of vision, Grady calmly placed the charm in front of the man and cleared his throat.

No response.

With that, Grady cleared his throat a second time before exchanging confused looks with Edaline.

"Excuse me, sir?" Grady tried, his voice politer than what Sophie imagined The Queen of England to sound like. He scooted the charm a little bit closer. "We would like to purchase this charm."

Finally, the man looked up from his apparently engrossing Imparter, his face contorted into a very demeaning sneer.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the renowned Ruewen's and their pesky, ugly, traitorous fake daughter." The man's voice had a naturally snooty tone embedded in his unnaturally angry speech. "Come to draw away business again?"

"What are you talking about?" Edaline asked sharply, glaring when Grady gave her a surprised look. "Don't worry, I'll handle this," she whispered to both Grady and Sophie, who had begun to shrink back in embarrassment due to the man's harsh words.

The worst part, she realized, is that everything coming out of the man's mouth was true. Sophie did her hardest to try and not let a tear slip out, but she was glad no one saw her when she felt a telltale drop plop! onto her tunic sleeve.

"As if you wouldn't know," the man barked. "You and your stupid daughter have been the bane to the existence of my shop! Every since elves have heard that Sophie Foster shopped here before, I've been losing huge crowds everyday!"

"I wish we could say we were sorry to hear that," Edaline retorted, reaching up to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "But unfortunately, we're not." She leaned real close to the man's face, and Sophie cheered internally a little bit when the man started to look a little intimidated and sway away slightly. "My daughter Jolie has shopped here before, and my daughter Sophie will as well. Your right to ever tell us what to do was never there in the first place, and you don't have it now." Edaline pushed the charm closer to the man, daring him to defy her. "We would like to purchase this immedietly."

Grumbling, the man held out his hand as Grady handed him his luster-cube and scanned it.

"Wow, Edaline," Sophie smiled slightly, her hands still trembling a bit, the man's voice forever recorded into her brain. "I didn't know you had it in you."

Even though he had been surprised too, Grady replied with a grumpy, "I did," as they walked out of the jewelry store. "Edaline beat me up in the seventh level because I tried to Mesmerize her into helping me cheat off of Lucida Halorn's Linguistics final exam."

"Grady!" Sophie chided as he helped clip on the charm. "I didn't know you were the cheating type!"

He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Better believe it."

She tried to picture Grady as a teenager, with ruddy blond hair, trying to get Edaline to help him cheat. To be honest, he kind of reminded her of Keefe, and with that, her thoughts immediately darkened. Two more days until she had to meet with him. Not only meet with him, but help him bust out his mother out of a ogre prison. What had she been thinking when she agreed to this?

 _Keefe may be a traitor-for now_ , she thought. _But he needs my help_.

And with that, the argument in her head was settled.

The trio walked in silence for the rest of the way through Atlantis, and it wasn't until they stepped into their bubble out of the city that Edaline spoke softly,

"You know that everything that that horrid man said was untrue, right Sophie? You, of all elves, didn't deserve to hear that."

Sophie nodded. Although she had almost let her believe the man's words, she trusted Edaline's much more.

"You're our daughter, Sophie." Grady affirmed, and looped his arms over Sophie's shoulders. "Our beautiful, clumsy, wonderful, talented, caring daughter."

Edaline nodded, doing the same with Sophie's other shoulder, whispering, "And nothing is ever going to change that."

Sophie sighed as she let herself sink into her parents' warmth.

"I love you guys," she whispered, words that felt so familiar that she didn't know why they didn't slip out of her mouth more often.

And for that one moment, everything was perfect.

* * *

But What If You Fly

Ah this is so good! You write exactly like Shannon! When Keefe went to the Neverseen I was beyond shocked, I even dropped my book and had to find my page again. You made the explanation of it perfect! Great job! Can't wait for the next chapter. Here's a 'write faster' cookie ;) (::)

I was hooked on your story at the preface! Love this! Keep on writing!

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 **ME equals FLATTERED, YOU equals AWESOME!**

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QuilAndInk9037

The story is SO GOOD! The prologue kept me at the edge of my seat and each chapter was very intense. I thought the detail was AMAZING and you capture Sophie's thought process very well. All the characters seem realistic. Can't wait for the next update. Well done!

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 **Really? I'm kind of surprised so many people enjoyed the prologue, as I wrote it in like two minutes during study hall because I was bored. Anyways, I'm SO GLAD you enjoyed it! Thanks!**

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ForeverFreeFall

OMG! I love your writing! I want another chapter! And BTW, I have this big crush on Tam so... Shame me. I'm kind of upset so many people hate them though! Anyways, I love Tam, Linh's OK I guess, and I think that Keefe is double crossing the NeverSeen to rescue his mom and try to get info for Sophie. Poor Sophie though! If I could have any ability, I would be a Shade. Love and all my support, ForeverFreeFall

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 **Thank you so much! And LOL, I like Tam and Linh too, but in my opinion, they're not nearly as developed as the rest of the Keeper crew, so they're kind of hard to write. ALSO, this is not a popular opinion whatsoever and completely contradicts my book but: I personally don't think Keefe is double crossing the Neverseen or is a double agent. I think joining the Neverseen was just an act of sheer recklessness, and he's as broken as a glass vase with a 3 year old kid with a baseball bat. I also know he will come back. He cares too much about Sophie and their friends to just leave altogether. But fear not! Keefe will be doing nothing of the sort in my book...for now. :)**

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Booknerd726

This is awesome! I love the writing style and it stays true to the characters personalities. As for any rude reviews you get, just know your writing is great! Keep up the awesome work! :D

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 **Thank you so much for the support! :D**

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LemonLimeOrangeInnuendos

 **Not even going to bother answering. :\**

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M

Plz do more

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 ***salutes* Will do!**

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twinkletoestbh (Chapters 4-8)

 **OMIGOSH dude! Thank you for the abundance of reviews and critiquing! I really really really appreciate it!**

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Grace

Hah! I am so giddy right now! I just adore this chapter! Good work!

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 **Yay! Thanks so much!**

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JoySeph13

Yay! I've finally found a fan's version of Lodestar! I LOVE what I've read so far, and am a hard-core Team Foster-Keefe shipper! The glossary is a very clever, and useful idea. I really like Linh, and think she'd be sweet with Fitz, but I haven't quite reached an opinion on Tam yet... ;) update soon! ~ JoySeph13

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 **Thank you SO much for reviewing! :D Appreciation overload!**

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 **Later skaters!**


	10. Epilogue

**THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE CONTAINS SWEARING**

 _Hi guys, I was bored and felt kind of shitty today, so I decided to grace you guys with another chapter, especially since this story is far from over. To be honest, this story is discontinued, so this is just an epilogue, and will reference lots of things you guys don't know, but I've tried to fill things in for you. Warning, the beginning is uber depressing, but it gets much lighthearted as the story wears on. Also, this is the end, guys. No more chapters after this. Just an epilogue to what would have been used to tie up loose ends in the original plot._

 **WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, ALSO SOME...BAD LANGUAGE IF YOU THINK BASTARD IS A BAD WORD. ALSO SWEARING IN THE AUTHOR'S NOTES**

* * *

"SO HERE WE ARE," Sophie sighed, as she sat on her bed, staring at her friends as the encircled her on the floor.

"Beaten," Biana held up her wrists, which were completely covered in bruises, courtesy of Fintan's iron whip.

"Broken," Keefe whispered as he lifted his hands to show Kenric's shattered cache, which he tossed to the ground, the sadly content look never leaving his eyes.

"Battered," Fitz winced as he shifted his palms to show the bleeding burns he had received from Ruy's Endoflame forcefield from when he had tried to protect Sophie from Rylan.

"Scarred," Dex shifted to show the newly pink scar tissue covering the left side of his neck from spending one too many hours in Alvar's torture chamber.

"But at least-," Linh said, wrapping her hand around her brother's closed fist, fresh tears already covering her face.

"-We're still alive, I guess," Tam finished darkly. He brushed the hair out of his eyes, and added somberly, "Well, most of us, that is."

Sophie bowed her head. Yes, they had stopped a rebellion, but at what cost? She knew the casualties for ogres, trolls, goblins, gnomes and dwarves were relatively low, but _twenty two_ elves were dead. Four of them she knew personally, and the pains of their deaths still stung more than ever. How was it that Tam talked so freely about it?

"Are you going to Mr. Forke's Wanderling Planting tomorrow?" She turned to ask Keefe. Anything, _anything_ would be better than remembering how the way the others died. For her.

Keefe turned away, not meeting her eyes. "I guess so." He turned back and stared into space remorsefully. "It seems that all we've been doing lately is going to Wanderling Plantings."

Dex nodded. "Yeah, first Tiergan's, and now Mr. Forkle's."

Sophie felt her breath hitch when he said that. Tiergan and Mr. Forkle had died the same day, truly brothers 'till the end, the day of the battle, and for no other reason than refusing to give her up to Alvar. The only reason their Plantings were held on different days was so that the Council wouldn't get the entire populous of The Lost Cities even more riled up than they already were.

But still. The memories were so fresh.

 _"Oh come on, she's just a girl. A freak, a mutant. An anomaly. She's not so special." Alvar taunted, his mortenskon-filled syringe held right up on Mr. Forkle's and Tiergan's tied up hands. "Give her up now, or die. It's your choice. We'll take her anyway."_

 _Mr. Forkle's eyes' hardened at that, and she'd never seen the passive Tiergan so angry._

 _"You kids," Mr. Forkle taunted. "You always think you're so smart."_

 _"We hate to break it to you, but we still have some tricks still up our sleeves," Tiergan finished, his eyes glowing an unearthly shade of blue._

 _"No!" Sophie cried weakly, her voice muffled by the rough cloth tied around her mouth as Rylan restrained her arms from behind._

 _The men didn't even turn around, her voice was so quiet and the sedatives soaked in the cloth were slowly seeping into her sinuses._

 _Her mental energy had run out a long time ago, but she wasn't about to give up without a fight. With the last remaining reserves of her strength, Sophie pooled her mental energy into one last attack and used a brain push of sheer force to try and knock Rylan loose._

 _The stupid bastard didn't even move an inch._

 _With the last of her energy gone, Sophie felt her eyelids close, and her voice die out, but her mind's eye was still intact as she pathetically watched the scene unfold before her._

 _She heard Tiergan gasp, then Mr. Forkle, as whatever mental attack they had been using was blocked. Small screams of pain echoed throughout the room as Alvar stuck the poisonous liquid-filled syringe straight into their palms._

 _Sophie then heard Mr. Forkle whisper his last breaths,_

 _"It's time to take your place, Sophie Foster."_

 _Then, she blacked out._

She couldn't help it when a tear slipped slowly out of her eye and rolled down her cheek when she reawakened those memories. Her photographic memory didn't help in her suppression.

"Hey," Keefe whispered sadly as his finger caught her tear before it rolled onto the ground. "No more crying, not yet." He grabbed her hand and turned to look remorsefully at Fitz and Biana. "You can wait until Alden and Della's Planting to do that."

Biana sobbed and buried her face into Tam's shoulder, and even though he looked very uncomfortable, he began to pat her arm comfortingly.

Fitz sat as still as a stone as his turquoise eyes became hard, his thoughts condemning every notion of his parents being dead. Sophie wanted to comfort him, she really did, but she just didn't know how.

Sophie did her best to hold back a sob as the entire room was ensconced in sadness. She hadn't been there the moment Alden and Della had been shot, twin hypercharged melder blasts to the head, but Fitz and Biana were. Maybe that was even worse.

No one knew who had fired them, it was in the heat of battle, but all evidence pointed to Alvar, who completely denied it. Who was to say if he was telling the truth or not? Sophie sure didn't believe him.

Alden was too much of a father to her for her to let him go so easily. He was loyal to the end, and kind too, with his reassuring smile and ability to make problems seem less like a disaster. It only reminded her of how precious a life was and how quickly it was taken away.

And Della. She was the fiercest woman Sophie had ever known. Beauty followed her wherever she went, but her dainty princess looks were just a sheer facade for her strength and willpower. Biana was so much like her.

Suddenly, angry yelling broke her out of her reverie.

"It's not fair," Keefe shouted, dropping Sophie's hand as he stood up. "It's not fair that Alden and Della get to die while my mom is still alive, doing who knows what."

Sophie didn't like the look on his face. It was far too much like the scared angry boy she had known a few weeks months earlier when he had trudged to the Neverseen, looking for a way to save the person he was just condemning.

"Keefe," Sophie started, grabbing his hand back as she pulled him down in a sitting position back on her bed. "Look at me."

She waited several seconds before he did so, ignoring the odd glances Dex gave her.

"Your mother has it worse off than Della or Alden. She's alive, and knows that she's not only betrayed her son and her family once, but _twice_. She has to live with knowing that she's responsible for the death of over a hundred innocent lives," Sophie took a deep breath. "Don't you think death is better than that?"

Keefe continued to glare at the ground, but still held onto her hand as if it was his lifeline. "I'm pretty sure my mom could live with that. She has no guilt complex whatsoever."

"Whatever's the case," Sophie argued comfortingly. "I'm sure Della and Alden are happy." She honestly had no idea who she was trying to convince more, herself or Keefe. "They're in a better place now. They have two beautiful children-" She glanced at the still stony Fitz and crying Biana. "Who still have their whole lives ahead of them. What's better than that?"

Keefe didn't answer after that, and Sophie was worried that her words would have no effect on him.

Finally, he sighed and slid down onto the ground, nearly crashing into Linh, who had started to comfort Fitz.

"I'm still going to cry at their Planting though."

Sophie let out a sad smile, and slid down to envelop him in a shoulder-hug. "No one said you shouldn't."

* * *

"Sophie! Fitz! Biana!" Edaline's gentle calls reverberated through Havenfield's enormous walls as Sophie slowly woke up, her eyes groggy from studying for midterms all night. Iggy's chainsaw-esque snoring hadn't helped either.

Not bothering to comb her hair or look in the mirror, Sophie made her way downstairs, meeting an equally sleep-deprived, but dressed and ready for the day Fitz, in the upper stairwell.

"Didn't sleep much last night?" Fitz asked, yawning.

"Nope," Sophie replied. "You?"

"Nah, I spent all last night studying for Telepathy exams. Sir Lorden won't be happy if I manage to fail this of all exams." He raised his eyebrows. "I'm guessing you didn't have to? Study for our Telepathy class, I mean."

Sophie smiled, knowing she had been caught. "Guilty as charged. I brushed up on Inflicting instead."

Fitz nodded, understanding. "Yeah, probably for the best. Bronte'd probably blow a fuse if you messed up on this midterm-no matter how nice he's been."

"Will you two idiots move? You're blocking the way," Biana grouched sleepily from behind, making Sophie jump. "I, for one, don't want to miss Edaline's breakfast spread-I heard she's making tortoiseberry tarts with flareadon eggs!"

Although Sophie had no idea what half of Biana said was, she moved out of the way in order to evade Biana's wrath, and followed her downstairs to the kitchen, Fitz in tow.

"Mmm, something smells good," she called to Edaline when they reached the kitchen.

Grady, who was already seated at the table and was devouring a plate of an oddly greenish looking pie with what looked like Cheetohs-colored egg yolks, gave a thumbs up. "It tastes even better than it smells."

Edaline smiled as she poked her head out from the kitchen, her face glowing with happiness. "Better hurry up and eat, you three, you don't wait to be late for Foxfire-on midterm of all days!"

"Right," Sophie breathed as she, Fitz, and Biana sat down at Havenfield's luxurious table and began to scarf down whatever delicious meal Edaline had cooked for them. Grady was right. The so-called tortoiseberry tarts tasted like ripe kiwi cheesecake, and the flareadon eggs tasted suspiciously like maple syrup candy. It was perfection on a plate.

"Hey," a voice called from the hallway over. "What's taking you guys so long?" Keefe magically materialized from the Leapmaster 500 next to Sophie, and glared at her accusingly.

"You're early today, Keefe," Grady mused as he sent halfhearted stares in the blond-haired boy's direction. After being a regular at Havenfield in the mornings, his death glare was losing its touch, though Grady never forgot to grant Keefe with it every day.

Keefe waved the notion away, and replied, "Yeah, well, I didn't feel like doing any last-minute studying, so I got bored and decided to come here before school starts. Then me and Foster can leap to school together!"

"Keefe," Fitz rolled his eyes. "You always leap here before school starts."

"Yeah, and ever since we moved here, you _always_ leap to school with us-and Sophie," Biana finished.

"Pish-posh," Keefe replied airily in a falsetto, once again waving away their complaints. He gasped suddenly when he looked at Sophie and jumped.

"Foster, you didn't tell me that you were having tortoiseberry tarts for breakfast!" He dragged over a chair and plopped it next to her, and began to scoop some of her breakfast off her plate.

"Hey, that's mine!" Sophie grumped as she fork-wrestled him for the last piece of her tart.

"Too slow, Foster," Keefe smirked as he foiled her fork-induced attack and dived for the tart, swallowing it before Sophie could complain.

He turned to Grady and Edaline. "See why there's a problem when you decided to adopt Fitz and Biana and not me?" He sighed dramatically. "I have to miss out on all of Edaline's cooking!"

"Keefe, you know we would've adopted you," Edaline said gently, her face in smiling softly. "You're a wonderful and handsome boy, but unlike Fitz and Biana, you already have a guardian, your father."

Keefe smirked. "Well, you got the handsome part right, but still, doesn't mean I have to like this living arrangement." He glared (mockingly, who knows?) at Sophie and Fitz. "There had better not be any funny business going on between you two!"

Fitz rolled his eyes, and Sophie did the same. "Oh please, Keefe, Sophie's basically my sister now."

For once, Sophie wasn't offended by that statement. She really did think of Fitz as a more brotherly figure, especially since he started living with her. That silly prior crush was long gone. Heck, that's why she wasn't too worried about her seeing her awful bedhead after waking up.

Now that they were on the subject of bedheads...

"Speaking of sisters," Keefe announced with a grin. "Yo, Foster, you know you've got a wicked bedhead right now? Do you know how much fun I'm going to make of you once we get to Foxfire?"

Sophie groaned. "Shut up, Keefe, you came in _way_ early and unannounced. I haven't even changed yet, or brushed my hair, for that matter. I still have what, an hour left-before we have to be at Foxfire."

Keefe grinned and pointed at the nectar-powered clock hanging above the table. "More like ten minutes." He nodded at Fitz and Biana, who were already dressed and winked.

"What?" Sophie asked, jumping up out of her seat worriedly. "Only ten minutes?" She began to scramble her way up the stairs, tripping over her feet in the process. "That won't be enough time!"

They could hear the crashing of heavy objects as Sophie searched for her uniform and began to get ready.

Fitz turned to Keefe, who merely smirked.

"Only ten minutes, huh?"

Keefe's devilish grin only grew wider.

"More like an hour."

"You bastard, you."

 **THE END**

* * *

 **Yeah, yeah, I know, Imma bitch, but what can you do? Anyways, special, _special, special_ thanks to all of you wonderful people who wished me well, including JoySeph13, Guest, QuilAndInk9037, waterfallphoenix, Xylia Neo, JenCupcakes, Booknerd726, Sassy di Angelo, Reader125, Margare the cool, Twinkletoestbh, animaljam, Jojo, and TeamKeefe. You guys are so fucking amazing and I love you guys. If I missed anyone, feel free to send me a complaint at**

 **1234 A Complete Moron Lives Here Ln.**

 **THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH I'VE HAD AN AMAZING TIME WRITING THIS STORY, AND YOU ALL ARE GREAT! I NEVER WOULD'VE EVEN GOT THIS FAR WITHOUT YOUR GUYS' SUPPORR!**


	11. Glossary

This is a glossary of elvin words mentioned in The Glitter Ninja's "Keeper of the Lost Cities: Lodestar" fanfiction. This is a cumulative list and will continue to grow as the story grows, and can be used as a reference for both the readers while they are reading and for The Glitter Ninja while she is writing. It will always be featured at the end of the story, and new chapters will be inserted prior to the glossary. Please note that these are not words made up by Shannon Messenger, so they are not "official Keeper of the Lost Cities" words, nor are they real words. They have all been made up by The Glitter Ninja for the sole purpose of writing fanfiction. Please note that all items in italics are items that not have been mentioned _by name_ , in the story yet, but have made an appearance, or an implied appearance.

 _Keeper of the Lost Cities: Lodestar: A Fanfiction_

By The Glitter Ninja

Glossary

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 **A**

 _Arbian's Armor_ \- very light but protective mail armor patented by the Neverseen rebel group, usually given to new recruits. Named after the legendary rebel, Arbian, who had impenetrable skin and worked as a founding blacksmith. Arbian's Armor becomes unusually heavy when worn in full, so most recruits are given either gauntlets or vambraces, occasionally a helmet. (Inadvertently mentioned: Chapter 4: A Male In Mail)

 _Ardebit_ \- a very dangerous type of arrow specialized by the Neverseen rebel group that are coated in an unidentifiable gas powder that burns upon impact of a target. Must be stored in a special quiver that does not burn called a  Fintan Quiver. Maximum effect is achieved when used in combination with the Combustion Crossbow. (Inadvertently mentioned: Chapter 4: A Male In Mail)

 **C**

Claudospore \- a shiny block of crystal that can be used to open light absorbing gates from the outside by being pressed onto a specially installed square next to the gate knocker. (First appearance: Chapter 2: Trust, But Be Weary)

 _Combustion Crossbow_ \- a hard-to-aim, fireproof crossbow created by the Neverseen rebel group that enhances the distance and power of a shot, and must be fitted with ardebits in order to enhance the effect. (First mentioned: Chapter 4: A Male In Mail)

 **F**

 _Fintan Quiver_ \- a quiver that is made of fireproof material, created by the Neverseen rebel group to hold arebits that are used with Combustion Crossbows. (Inadvertently mentioned: Chapter 4: A Male In Mail)

Folatra \- a unique kind of paper that's contents can only be read by to whom the letter is addressed. Writing must be written with sap ink to have full effect. (First appearance: Chapter 5: A Liar and A Thief)

 **I**

Inkrolin \- a washable stamp that allows the one who controls the stamp to hear whatever the wearer hears whenever the controller chooses, but the ink must be on the skin, and to fully hear what is being said, the controller must hook the stamp up with a specialized tracker. (First appearance: Chapter 3: Unexpected Visitors)

Irto \- a clear spoke that can be inserted into the ground, and creates dangerously unstable rainbows that electrocutes anyone without the programmed chemical composition walks near them. (First appearance: Chapter 3: Unexpected Visitors)

 **P**

Peacestone \- an iridescent semi-precious stone with a similar sheen to pearls with the soft color of cherry blossoms and has the ability to turn silver in the dark. (First Appearance: Chapter 7: Stark Contrast)

Praemis \- a small, wormlike creature that fluoresces at night, giving off a soft glow, and has a protective mechanism that allows them to give off high-pitched shrieks whenever something unfamiliar or dangerous is present. (First appearance: Chapter 3: Unexpected Visitors)

 **S**

Sap Ink \- a specially concocted ink created with rare tree saps and lemon juice that writes in green ink. Can be used with folatras to achieve maximum secrecy in writing. (First appearance: Chapter 5: A Liar and A Thief)

Specialized Gates \- various types of gates that specialize in the protection of the estate that they are in. Examples include light absorbing gates at Everglen, which prevents light leaping directly into the grounds, due to the fact that the gates absorb all the light, and hyper-analyzing gates installed at Havenfield, which only permit elves and other creatures that have been specially permitted through, using advance technology and scanning. (First appearance: Chapter 3: Unexpected visitors)

* * *

Please note that this is only the beginning of what is soon to be a full-fledged glossary as the story goes on. Also note that some items have yet to mentioned in depth, or even at all, but have made appearances, and that is why they have been included in the glossary.


End file.
